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WILD SCENES 



A HUNTER'S LIFE; 



OK, THE 



Hunting and Hunters of All Nations, 



INCLUDING 



CUMMING'S AND GIRARD'S ADVENTURES. 



Br 



JOHN FROST, LL.D. 



With Thr 




BOSTONr^ 



LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS. 

NEW YORK: 
CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM. 



oy 



Cbterod Mooc'Iiif ta Lstot Oongresft, in the jmx one thoniraid clgltt ku^lMJ 
and flffcy-flve, 

bf MILLEE, ORTON & MULLIGAN 
Ji tk« Clerk 8 \Mefi of tne Districi r> >art of the Northern DlMriot of New 1 ofHt. 







PREFACE. 



The subject of hunting is one which has a peculiar 
interest for the people of this country. So large a 
portion of our territory, even in the most thickly 
settled States, is still covered with forests abounding 
in game and beasts of the chase, that almost every 
citizen occasionally becomes a sportsman or a hunter; 
and those who never engage in any sport of the hunt- 
ing kind, nevertheless, are interested in the narratives 
of those who have distinguished themselves in forest 
and field. 

The following pages have been compiled with a 
view not only to gratify curiosity and afford enter- 
tainment to the general reader, but to furnish useful 
information respecting the natural history and habits 
of animals, and the modes practised by various na- 
tions in hunting them. 

(3J 



PREFACE. 



The lively and graphic narratives of Mr. Gumming, 
from which we have so freely borrowed, seem to open 
an entirely new era in hunting. His astonishing 
success in attacking whole herds of elephants and 
giraffes, and assailing groups of lions and rhinoceroses, 
would seem to establish the principle that a bold 
front, quick eye, and unflinching nerve, will enable a 
single man to hold his ground, and destroy or dis- 
perse a host of the fiercest wild be jts. We com- 
mend the portions of this volume copied from Mr 
Cumming's work to the special notice of the reader. 
The narratives may seem incredible; but we believe 
them; and the spoils )f the chase brought from 
Airica by this daring huntsman, afford convincing 
proofs of the general truthfulness of 'Is statements. 

The volume is very copiously .mbellished, as 
seemed necessary from the nature of the subject; 
and we trust that the delineations ui animals and 
birds, as well as of hunting scenes, will be recognized 
as true copies from nature. 

Considerinsf the lar^re amount of information con- 
densed into the volume, and the thrilling character 
of many of the narratives it contains, the compiler 
believes that it will prove an acceptable offering to 
th^ reading public. 




/Ci^m::^ 



.'^CONTENTS, 



Boirrma among the Aii^^ .nts 

HtlNTINQ AMONG THE AnCIENT MEXICANS 

HcimNO IN THE East Indies- — »** • 

SXBMS USED IN HUNTING •— • — 

HvNTma IN England and Scotland 

BCNTINGTHE BaDGEB 

HlINTING THE Wild BOAB . — 

BONTINe THE BUTPALO- .».~— — . .. 

Hunting THECHA~'^I8•— -^ 

BONTmO THE Fox '•<'•• -i-^ '••••> • 

BvamiG THE Hakb «m«— ^ 



CHAPTER I. 

CHAPTER 11. 

CHAPTER ra. 

CHAPTER IT. 

CHAPTER V. 

CHAPTER VL 

CHAPTER Vn. 

CHAPTER Vin. 

CHAPTER IX. 

CHAPTER X. 

CHAPTER XI. 



... I 

•'. la 

— IT 

— 26 
.... M 

... 81 
... u 
-^ 48 
.. 4fl 

•- M 



(6) 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER xn. 

HCNTING THE StAQ 



CHAPTER Xin. 

Mode of Hdnting the Indian Antelope 



CHAPTER XIV. 

dUHTING THE LlON ON HORSEBACK -► - • 71 

CHAPTER XV. 

UCMTINQ THE MaRMOT- ^ H 

CHAPTER XVI. 
BlTHTiNG THE Virginian Deer-.- — ,......♦.►,. 7f 

CHAPTER XVII. 
HcwTiNG THE Indian Rhinoceros •• -.^^ .♦•.^ g| 

CHAPTER XVin. 

ttONTINQ THE BiSON •«- S8 

CHAPTER XIX. 

UCWTING THE POLAR BEAR •. Qg 

CHAPTER XX. 
UOKTING THE AMERICAN BlACK BeAR ..<-... ^05 

CHAPTER XXI. 
tlcWTiNG THE Llama 113 

CHAPTER XXII. 

tlCNTINQ THE ReIN DeER ^ 117 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
A. BiBON Hunt of Mr. Catlin and Mr. Chardon - 128 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
▲ Bishop Hunting the Tiger .► 185 

CHAPTER XXV. 
Adventures with the Hyaenas .•..^^.. «-.«-......... 141 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
Hunting the Ourang Outang- • • • - ^.^. .«,«-. .«*««.... i^ 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Uuirxmo MoNEiTS • <~><- IM 

CHAPTER xxvrn. 

Hunting the Ibex ^•^..-.►.^..^^. iai 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
BrNTme the Paca, the Agouti, the Viscacha, and the Chinchilla • • 107 

CHAPTER XXX. 

HCNTINQ THE MOOSB ^.^..,^^^^. ^,^ .^,^. .. . I7J 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
Hunting Antelopes with the Cheetah ^^ ^...•...>...*...^..,. I7f 

CHAPTER XXXIL 

HCNTIHQ THE KaNOAROO-' *^.^ ^,.^.,^. 18| 



CHAPTER X XX in. 
A F&ENCH OrjicEfi Hunting Lionesses- •^•-^ ...<_««> .-.>..» 18( 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 
HUNTINO THE JaGDAR • ^.-^..^.^.^^..^^ .. .. 19i 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
llDMLNG THE G.\00 • -•• -• IW 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 
Hunting the Ostrich, the Wildebeest and the Obtx 20? 



CHAPTER XXXVn. 
Hunting the Springbok and the Quagg a 2o7 

CHAPTER XXXVTII. 
Hunting the African Buffalo aivd the Pallah 213 

CHAPTER XXXIX- 
Hcnting and Hawking in Persia 219 

CHAPTER XL. 
Bhooiing a Lion from a watching place 224 

CHAPTER XLI. 

Hunting the Leopard with Dogs, and Adventures with Buffaloes and Lions 230 

CHAPTER XLIL 
BtR. Cumming's Adventure with a Snake 236 



CHAPTER XLIIL 
HuNTiNa the Blesbok and Boar 243 

CHAPTER XLIV. 
Hunting the Hippopotamus 247 

CHAPTER XLV. 
BiE. Cumming's Adventure with an Extraordinary herd of Blesboks 263 

CHAPTER XLVI. 
Hunting the White Rhinoceros, Lion, Buffalo and Qiraffb ■. . .~— 267 

CHAPTER XLVII. 
Elephant Hunting by Moonught ^.^ 267 

CHAPTER XLVIIL 

VENTURE WITH A MONSTER LlON ...^^ 279 

CHAPTER XLIX. 
I OVTiNO THE Bustard and the Eland 283 



CHAPTER L, 

fTiNG THE Giraffe. — Habits of the Elephant 



CHAPTER LI. 

;. CUMMING CHASED BY A RHINOCEROS « 301 

CHAPTER LIL 
iJTENTURE WITH ELEPHANTS. — HaBITS OF THE LlON ^ ►.- 30« 



CHAPTER Lni. 
'StBPHANT Hunting in the East Indies- • — 32| 

CHAPTER LIV. 

dOKTINO THE MaRTEN, SABLE, QeNET AND CiVET 321 



CHAPTER LV. 
lULUJfG, CUtTlMO UP, COOKING AND EATING AM ELEPHANT *—-....-.. ^... _.,,-... . 38| 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER LVI. 

tuHTme TM Wild nOBSB AKD THE Aa3 — -— -— 84fl 

CHAPTER LVIl. 

JUKTINO THB NTL GhAO THE OCELET, AND THE LYXX ---• — • • —^-.-^..861 

CHAPTER LVin. 

flDMriNG THE Cougar— Hunting ScirtRKELs „.„„.8M 

CHAPTER LIX. 

pcjnixa THU American Elk or Wapiti - - 36* 

CHAPTER LX. 

HrNiiNO THE Raccoon, the Black-Tailed Deer, and the Mdsk Ox ... — ^..~.^.C| 

CHAPTER LXl. 

Hunting the Beaver and the Opossum — ..37<J 

CHAPTER LXIL 

Hdntino thb Fishee 388 

CHAPTER LXin. 

HUKTINO THE AMERICAN DEEB •— •^ — -^.-i- . 888 

CHAPTER LXrV. 
Mk. Cumminq's encounter with four Lions ,„»,^..^...,..-..-,^ 392 

CHAPTER LXV. 
Noottenal Adventure with six Lions •- -«-- -402 

CHAPTER LXVI. 

▲ lT*Rn CHASE OF AN ELEPHANT ♦'— 409 

CHAPTER LXVIL 

RiDiNO OUT the BULL Elephant -— —— 413 

CHAPTER LXVm. 
A MODERN Putnam -^ -~ ^-^ 

CHAPTER LXIX. 
M ION HUNT ON THE arvEH Mariqua " ' 427 

CHAPTER LXX. 
Bit W.C Harris's Giraffe hunt ~— ^^^.^^.^-iSi 

CHAPTER LXXl. 

A BR08B WITH A BirSON »...» "- ' " — ••- 44C 

OHAPT£B LXXIL 

^XSARJ), THE UlON-SLATB* ^»»^. ...,►»-. ~^-...», -^ ^ . ^: ^. ^~^. ^ 4^ 




WILD SCENES 



IN A 



HUNTER'S LIFE. 



CHAPTER I. 



HUNTING AMONG THE ANCIENTS. 




^ UNTING, properly speaking, is '<the 
pursuit of four-footed beasts of game." 
" These," says an old writer, " are 
hunted in the fields, woods, and thick- 
ets, with guns and greyhounds." F. 
de Launay, professor of French laws, 
has an express treatise of hunting. We 
find that aftiong the earliest civilized 
nations, hunting made one of their diversions ; and as to the wild 
i.nd barbarous, it supplied them with food. The Roman jurispru- 
a.ence, which was formed on the manners of the first ages, estab 

9 



10 HUNTING ADVENTURES 



lished it as a law, that as the natural right of things which have 
no master belongs to the first possessor, wild beasts, birds, and 
fibhes, are the property of those who can take them first. Bui 
the northern barbarians, who over-ran the Roman empire, bringing 
with them a stronger taste for the diversion, and the people being 
now possessed of other and more easy means of subsistence, frona 
the lands and possessions of those they had vanquished, their chiefs 
Degan to appropriate the right of hunting, and, instead of a 
natural right, to make it a royal one. Thus it continues to thia 
day ; the right of hunting in the Old World belonging only to the 
king, anl those who derive it from him. In America we have a 
better fashion. 

The hunting used by the ancients was much like that now 
practised for the reindeer, which is seldom hunted at force, or 
with hounds ; but only drawn with a blood hound, and taken with 
nets and engines. Thus did they with all beasts ; whence a dog 
was never commended by them for opening, before he has dis- 
covered where the beast lies. Hence, they were not curious as 
to the music of their hounds, or the composition of their pack, for 
deepness, loudness, or sweetness of cry, which are principal points 
ill .rodern hunting. Their huntsmen, indeed, were accustomed 
to shout and make a great noise, as Virgil observes in his third 
book of Georgics, verse 413. 

" Ingentem elamore premes ad retia cervum." 

But that confusion was only to bring the deer to the nets laid fol 
him. The Sicilian mode of hunting had something in it very ex- 
traordinary. The gentry being inforuic' which way a herd of deel 
passed, gave notice to one another, and appointed a meeting ; every 
one bringing with him a cross-bow or long-bow, and a bundle of 
staves shod with iron, the heads bored, with a cord passing through 
them all : thus provided, they come to the herd, and casting them- 
selves about in a large ring, surrounded the deer. Then each 
taking his stand, unbound his fagot, set up his stake, and tied 
he ead of the cord to that of his next neighbor, ten feet froii) 
each Dther. 1 hen taking feathers, dyed in crimson, and fastened 
on a thread, they tied them to the cord \ so that with the leas! 



HUNTING AMONG THE ANCIENTS. 11 




A HERD OP DEER. 



breath of wind they would whirl round. Those who kept the 
stands then withdrew, and hid themselves in the next covert. 
Then the chief ranger entering within the line, with hounds to 
draw after the herd, roused the game with their cry ; which, fly- 
ing towards the line, were turned off, and still gazing on the shak- 
ing and shining feathers, wandered about as if kept in with a 
real wall. The ranger still pursued, and calling every person 
by name as he passed by their stand, commanded him to shoot 
the first, thiid, or sixth, as he pleased : and if any of them missed 
or singled out another than that assigned him, it was counted a 
grievous disgrace. By such means, as they passed by the several 
stations, the whole herd was killed by the several hands. 

Hunting formed the chief employment of the ancient Germans, 
and probably of the Britons also, when not engaged in war. 
Ancient historians tell us, that this was the case, even so late as 
the third century, with those unconquered Britons who livec* 
beyond Ad.ian's wall; nay, that they subsisted chiefly by the 
prey that they took in this way. The great attachment shown b> 
all the Celtic nations to hunting, however, proceeded most pro 
bably from its being a kind of apprenticeship to war. By it thei- 
routh acquired that courage, strength, swiftness, and dexterity ii 



n 



HUNTING ADVENTUR] 




ANCIENT CELTIC HUNTER. 



handling their arms, which made them so formidable in war le 
their enemies. By it, too, they freed their country from those 
mischievous animals which abounded in the forests, and furnished 
themselves with materials for those feasts which seem to have 
constituted their greatest pleasure. 

The young chieftains had thus, likewise, 'an opportunity of pay- 
ing court to their mistresses, by displaying their courage and 
agility, and making them presents of their game ; nay, so strong, 
and universal was the passion for hunting among the ancient 
Britons, that even young ladies of the highest quahty, and great- 
est beauty, spent much of their time in the chase. They em- 
ployed much the same weapons in hunting that they did in war, 
viz., long spears, javelins, and bows and arrows ; having also 
great numbers of dogs to assist them in finding and pursuing their 
game. These dogs were much admired among other nations, on 
account of their swiftness, strength, fierceness, and exquisite 
•ease of smelling. They .\ ere highly valued by the Celtic nationa. 



HUNTING AMONG THE ANCIENT MEXICANS 



18 




MONTEZUMA. 

CHAPTER 11. 

HUNTING AMONG THE ANCIENT MEXICANS. 

VERY circumstance in the character and 
customs and condition of the Mexicans, 
under Montezuma and his predecessors 
of the Aztec race, predisposed them to 
be active hunters. The Aztecs were a 
cruel race and delighted in blood. Their 
forest laws, according to Mr. Prescott,* 
were as severe as those of the Normans 
under William the Conqueror. They had human sacrifices. In 
some of these bloody rites the heart of the victim was torn from 
the living body, as an acceptable offering to their stern gods. In 
others, which might be termed gladiatorial sacrifices, the victim 
was bound by a chain attached to his leg and fastened to a plat* 
foirr., where he was compelled to fight a fcee antagonist, urtil his 




* Conquest of Mexico. 



14 



HUNTING APVENTURBft. 




|!!lllll!il!!!llilllll|iiliil! 



GLADIATORIAL COMBAT OF THE MEXICAN 



death closed the merciless combat. A people accustomed t( 
spectacles like this, would naturally take peculiar delight in the 
sports of the chase. Accordingly, we jfind that the Mexicans were 
very dexterous in hunting. They used bows and arrows, darts 
nets, snares, and a kind of tube named carbottane, through 
which they shot by blowing out little balls at birds. Those 
which the kings and great men made use of were curiously 
carved and painted, and likewise adorned with gold and silver. 
Besides the exercise of the chase, which private individuals took 
either for amusement or to provide food, there were genera 
hunting-matches, sometimes appointed by the king ; at others, to 
provide victims for sacrifices. 

A large wood, generally that of Zacatapec, near me capital 



HUNTING AMONG THE ANCIENT MEXICANS. 



15 



was pitched upon as the scene of these grand hunting-matches. 
Here they chose the place best adapted for setting a number of 
Bnares and nets. The wood was enclosed by some thousands ot 
hunters, forming a circle of six, seven or eight miles, according to 
the number of animals they intended to take. Fire was then sel 
to the grass in a great number of places, and a terrible noise made 
with drums, horns, shouting, and whistling. The huntcfs gradu- 
ally contracted their circle, continuing the noise until the game 
were enclosed in a very small space. They were then killed or 
taken in snares, or with the hands of the hunters. The number 
of animals taken or destroyed on these occasions, was so great, 
that the first Spanish Viceroy of Mexico would not beheve it with- 
out making the experiment himself. 

The place chosen for his hunting-match was a great plain in 
the country of the Otomies, lying between the villages of Xilotepec 
and S. Giovani del Rio ; the Indians being ordered to proceed 
according to their usual customs. The Viceroy, attended by a 
vast retinue of Spaniards, repaired to the place appointed, where 




AN OTOMIK HUNTER. 

ficcoramodations were prepared for them m houses of wood, erected 
> .r the purpose. A circle of more than fifteen miles was formed 
by, eleven thousand Otomies, who started such a quantity of game 



1€ HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



on the plain, that the viceroy was quite astonished, and com- 
manded the greater part of them to be set ai liberty, which was 
uccordingly done. The number retained, however, was still 
mcredibly great, were it not attested by a witness of the highest 
credit On. this occasion upwards of six hundred deer and wild 
goats, one hundred cajotes, with a surprising number ol hares, 
rabbits, lind other smaller animals. The plain still retains the 
Spanish name Cazadero, which signifies the place of the chase. 
The Mexicans had also particular contrivances for catchirig cer- 
ain animals. Thus, to catch young asses, the^ made a small fire 
m the woods, putting among the burning coals a particular kind 
of stone named cacalottl, i, e. raven or black stone, which bursts 
with a loud noise when heated. The fire was covered with 
earth, and a little maize laid around it. The asses quickly 
assembled with their young, in order to feed upon the maize ; 
but while they were thus employed, the stone burst, and scared 
away the old ones by the explosion, while the young ones, unable 
to fly, were carried off by the hunters. Serpents were taken even 
by the hands, seizing them intrepidly by the neck with one hand, 
and sewing up their mouths with the other. This method is still 
practised. They showed the greatest dexterity in tracing the 
steps of wild beasts, even when an European could not have 
discerned the smallest print of their feet. The Indian method, 
however, was by observing sometimes the herbs or leaves broken 
down by their feet ; sometimes the drops of blood which fell from 
them when wounded. Some of the American Indians show s^ilJ 
greater dexterity in discovering the tracks of their '?'>*»nies, which 
« an European would be altogether im perceptive 



HUNTING IN THE EAST INDIES 



IT 




HYDER ALL 

CHAPTER ni. 

miNTINQ IN THE EAST INDIES. 

JAUNTING was a favorite diver- 
sion of the bloody conqueror, 
Jenghiz Khan, if indeed the 
word diversion can be applied 
to a monster whose mind was 
set upon the destruction of his 
own species, and who only en- 
deavored to make the murder 
of brutes subservient to that of 
men, by keeping his soldiers in a kind of warfare with the beasts 
when they had no human enemies to contend with. His expe- 
ditions were conducted on a plan similar to that of the Mexican* 
already mentioned ; and were no doubt attended with stiU greatei 




18 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



success, as his numerous army could enclose a muth greatex 
space than all the Indians whom the Spanish viceroy could 
muster. The East Indian princes still show the same inclination 
to the chase ; and Mr. Blane, who attended the hunting excur- 
sions of Asoph Ul Dowah, Vizier of the Mogul empire, and Nabob 
of Oude, in 1785 and 1786, in the time of Hyder Ali, gives the 
following account of the method practised on this occasion. 

The time is about the beginning of December ; and the diver- 
sion is continued till the heats, which commence about the begin- 
ning of March, oblige them to stop. During this period a circuit 
of between four and six hundred miles is generally made ; the 
hunters bending their course towards the skirts of the northern 
mountains, where the country is wild and uncultivated. The 
Vizier takes along with him not only his court and seraglio, but 
a great part of the inhabitants of his capital. His immediate 
attendants amount to about two thousand ; but he is also followed 
by five or six hundred horse, and several battalions of regular 
sepoys with their field pieces : four or five hundred elephants 
also accompany him ; of which some are used for riding, others 
for fighting, and some for clearing the jungles and forests of the 
ame. About as many sumpter horses of the beautiful Persian 
and Arabian breeds are taken with him. 

A great number of wheel carriages, drawn by bullocks, Hkewise 
attend, which are used chiefly for the convenience of the women ; 
sometimes also he has an English chaise or two, and sometimes a 
chariot ; but all these, as well as the horses, are merely for show, 
the Vizier himself never using any other conveyance than an 
elephant, or sometimes, when fatigued or indisposed, a palanquin. 
The animals used in the sport are principally about three hundred 
greyhounds, two hundred hawks, and a few trained leopards for 
hunting deer. There is a great number of marksmen, whose 
profession it is to shoot deer ; with many fowlers, who provide 
game ; as none of the natives of India know how to shoot game 
with small shot, or to hunt with slow bounds. 

A vast number of matchlocks are carried along with the com- 
pany, wth many English pieces of various kinds, 40 oi 50 pairt 



yiONTING IN THE EAST INDIES- 21 

pf pistols, bows and arrows, besides swords, daggers, and sabrei 
without number. There are also nets of various kinds some foi 
quails ; and others very large, for fishing, which are carried along 
with him upon elephants, attended by fishermen, so as always to 
be ready for throwing into any river or lake that may be met with. 
Every article that can contribute to luxury or pleasure is likewise 
carried along with the army. A great number of carts are loaded 
with the Ganges water, and even ice is transported for coohng the 
drink. The fruits of the season and fresh vegetables are daily 
sent to him from his gardens by bearers stationed at every ten 
miles ; by which means each article is conveyed day and night at 
the rate of four miles an hour. There are also fighting antelopes, 
buffaloes, and rams in great numbers ; several hundred pigeons, 
some fighting cocks, and a vast variety of parrots, nightingales, 
&c. To complete the magnificence or extravagance of this expe- 
dition, there is always a large bazaar, or moving town, which 
attends the camp ; consisting of shop-keepers and artificers of all 
kinds, money-changers, dancing women ; so that, on the most 
moderate calculation, the whole number of people in his camp 
cannot be computed at fewer than 20,000. 

The Nabob himself, and all the gentlemen of his camp, are 
provided with double sets of tents and equipage, which are always 
sent on the day before to the place to which he intends to go ; and 
this is generally eight or ten miles, in whatever direction mosi 
game is expected ; so that by the time he has finished his sport in 
the morning, he finds his whole camp ready pitched for his recep- 
tion. The Nabob, with the attending gentlemen, proceed in a 
regular moving court or durbar, and thus they keep conversing 
together and looking out for game. Many foxes, hares, jackals, 
and sometimes deer, are picked up as they pass along : the hawks 
are carried immediately before the elephants, and let fly at what- 
ever game is sprung, which is generally partridges, bustards, 
quails, and different kinds of herons ; these last affording excellent 
•port with the falcons. 

Wild boars are sometimes started, and either shot or run down 
by the dogs anl horsemen. Hunting the tiger, however, is *ooked 



22 HFNTTNQ AbVENTURES. 



upon as the pnnciple diversion, and the discovery of one of these 
animals is accounted a matter of great joy. The cover in which 
he is found is commonly long grass, or reeds of such a height as 
frequently to reach ahove the elephants ; and it is difficuh to find 
him in such a place, as he commonly endeavors either to steal 
off, or lies so close to the ground that he cannot be roused till the 
elephants are almost upon him. He then roars and skulks away, 
but is shot at as soon as he can be seen ; it being generally con- 
trived that the Nabob shall have the compliment of firing first. 
If he be not disabled, he continues to skulk along, followed by 
the elephants; the Nabob and others shooting at him, as often a^ 
he can be seen, till he falls. 

The elephants themselves are very much afraid of this terribie 
animal, and discover their apprehensions by.shrieking and roaring 
as soon as they begin to smell him or hear him growl ; generally 
attempting to turn away from the place where he is. When the 
tiger can be traced to a particular spot, the elephants are disposed 
of in a circle round him ; in which case he will at last make a 
desperate attack, springing upon the elephant that is nearest, and 
attempting to tear him with his teeth or claws. Some, but very 
few, of the elephants, can be brought to attack the tiger ; and thie 
they do by curling up their trunks under their mouths, and then 
attempting to toss, or otherwise destroy him with their tusks, or to 
crush him with their feet or knees. It is considered as good sport 
to kill one tiger in the day ; though sometimes, when a female is 
met with her young ones, two or three will be killed. The other 
objects of pursuit in these excursions are wild elephants, buffaloes 
rhinoceroses. Our author was present at the hunting of a wild 
elephant of vast size and strength. An attempt was first made to 
take him alive by surrounding him with tame elephants, while he 
was kept at bay by crackers and other fire-works ; but he con- 
itantiy eluded every effort of this kind. Sometimes the drivers 
of the tame elephants got so near him, that they threw strong 
ropes over his head, and endeavored to detain him by fastening 
them around trees ; but he constantly snapped the ropes like pack- 
hreads, and pursued his way to the forest. Some of the strongest 



HUNTINQ IN THE EAST INDIES. 



25 



Mid most funous of the fighting elephants were then brought up 
to engage him ; but he attacked them with such fury that they 
were all obliged to desist. In his struggle with one of them he 
broke one of his tusks, and the broken piece, which was upwards 
of two inches in diameter, of solid ivory, flew up into the aii 
several yards above their heads. Orders were now given to kill 
him, as it appeared impossible to take him alive ; but even this 
was not accomplished without the greatest difficulty. He twice 
turned and attacked the. party who pursued him ; and in one of 
these attacks struck the elephant obliquely on which the prince 
rode, threw him upon his side, but then passed on without offering 
farther injury. At last he fell dead, after having received up 
wards of one thousand balls into his body. 




■LIPHANT HUMT. 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




CHAPTER IV. 



TERMS USED IN HUNTING. 

j^HE gentlemen of the spor« 
have invented a set of 
term?, which may be called 
the hunting language. The princi- 
pal a^e these : 

1. For beasts, as they are in com- 
pany : — They say, a . herd of harts, 
and all manner of deer ; a bey of roes ; a 
sounder of swine ; a rout of wolves ; a 
Mchess of martens : a brace or leash of 
iivcks, foxes, or hares ; a couple of rabbits or coneys. 

2. For their lodging; — A hart is said to harbor; a buck 
lodges ; a roe beds ; a hare seats or forms ; a coney sits ; a fox 
kennels ; a marten trees ; an otter watches ; a badger earths ; a 
boar couches. Hence, to express their dislodging, they say, un- 
harbor the hart ; rouse the buck ; start the hare ; bolt the coney ; 
unkennel the fox; untree the raarten; vent the otter; dig th# 
Vadger ; rear the boar. 




TERMS USED IN HUNTING. 27 



3 For iheir noise at rutting time : — A hart belleth ; a buck 
growns, or treats ; a roe bellows ; a hare beats or taps ; an otter 
whines ; a boar freams ; a fox barks ; a badger jjhrieks ; a wolf 
howls ; a goat rattles. 

4. For their copulation : — A hart or buck goes to rut ; a roe to 
tourn ; a boar to brim ; a hare or coney to buck ; a fox to clickit- 
ting ; a wolf to match or make ; an otter hunts for his kind. 

5. For the footing and treading : — Of a hart, they say, the alot ; 
of a buck, and all fallow-deer, the view ; of all deer, if on ii« 
grass, and scarce visible, the foiling ; of a fox, the print ; and of 
other vermin, the footing ; of an otter, the marks ; of a boar, the 
track ; the hare when in open field, is said to sore ; when she 
winds about to deceive the hounds, she doubles ; when she beats 
on the hard highway, and her footing comes to be perceived, she 
pricketh : in snow, it is called the trace of the hare. 

6. The tail of a hart, buck, or other deer, it is called the single ; 
that of a boar, the wreath ; of a fox, the br^^'h or drag ; and the 
tip at the end, the chape ; of a wolf the stern ; of a hare and 
coney, the scut. 

7. The ordure of a hart, and all deer, is called fewmets or few- 
mishing ; of a hare, crotiles or crotising ; of a boar, lesses ; of a 
fox, the billetting ; and of other vermin, the fuants ; of an otter, 
the spraints. 

8. As the attire or parts of deer, those of a stag, if perfect, are 
the bur, the pearls, the little knobs on it, the beam, the gutters, 
the antler, the fur antler, royal, fur royal, and all at top the 
croches ; of the buck the bur, beam, brow antler, black antler 
advancer, palm, and spellers. If the croches grow in the fonx. ol 
a man's hand, it is called a palmed head. Heads bearing Ect 
above three or four, and the croches placed aloft, all of one height, 
are called crowned heads ; heads having double croches, are 
called forked heads, because the croches are planted on the top of 
the beams like forks. 

9. Of the young, they say, a litter of cubs, a nest of rabbits^ 
a squirrel's dray. 

10. The terms used in respect of the dogs, &c., are as follow* 



28 HUNTING ADVENTURBS. 



-Of greyhounds, two make a brace ; of hounds, a couple ; oi 
greyhounds, three make a leash ; of hounds, a couple and half. 
They say, let slip a greyhound ; and, cast-off a hound. The 
string wherein a greyhound is led, is called a leash ; and that 
of a hound, a lyome. The greyhound has his collar, and the 
hound his couples. We say a kennel of hounds, and a pack of 
beagles. 

11. The following terms and phrases ari more immediately 
used in the progress of the sport itself. When the hounds, 
being cast-off, and finding the scent of some game, begin to open 
and cry, they are said to challenge ; when they are too busy ere 
the scent be good, they are said to babble ; when too busy 
where the scent is good, to bawl ; when they run it endwi«.9 
orderly, holding in together merrily, and making it good, they are 
said to be in full cry ; when they run along without opening at all, 
it is called, running mute ; when spaniels open in the string, or a 
greyhound in the course, they are said to lapse ; when beagles 
bark and cry at their prey, they are said to yearn ; when the dogs 
hit the scent the contrary way, they are said to draw amiss ; when 
they take fresh scent and quit the former chase for a new one, it 
IS called hunting change ; when they hunt the game by the heel 
or track, they are said to hunt counter ; when the chase goes off^ 
and returns again, traversing the same ground, it is called hunt- 
ing the foil ; when the dogs run at a whole herd of deer, instead 
of a single one, it is called running riot ; dogs set in readiness 
where the game is expected to come by, and cast-off after the 
other hounds are passed, are called a relay. If they be cast-off 
ere the other dogs come up, it is called vountlay ; when, finding 
where the chase has been, they make a proffer to enter, but 
return, it is called a blemish ; a lesson on the horn to encourage 
the hounds, is named a call, or recheat ; that blown at the death of 
a deer, is called the mort ; the part belonging to the dogs of any 
chase they have killed, is the reward ; they say, take off a deer's 
skin ; strip or case a hare, fox, and all sorts of vermin ; which is 

lone by beginning at the snout, and tumfng the skin over tlw 

•lan down to the tail. 



HUNTINQ IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 



29 




HTTNTING IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 
IN no country is hunting so passion- 
ately loved as in Great Britain. From 
the earliest period of history, to the 
present time, the nobility and gentry 
of England have taken pride in all 
'^ui^.^*- the curious lore of the hunter's ait 
Volumes might be written^we should rather say, scores of vo 
.umes have been published in that untry, on what is styled by 
the ancient writers, the " noble arte of vtnerie." To avoid pro- 
lixity on this part of our subject, we shall, m the next succeeding 
chapters, give the brief directions of an old writer, on the modes 
of hunting the Tarious padrupeds of the chase, both on the 
Island of Great Britain and on the continent; reservmg the 



so HUNTING ADVENTURES, 



privilege of recurring to certain branches of the subject Lereaftei 
Our authority says : 

Hunting, as practised in England and Scotland, is chiefly 
performed with dogs ; of which we have various species, ac- 
commodated to the different kinds of game, as greyhounds, 
"bloodhounds, terriers, &c. In the kennels or packs, they gene- 
rally rank them under the heads of enterers, drivers, Hyers, tyers, 
ifec. On some occasions, nets, spears and instruments for digging 
f.he ground, are also required ; nor is the hunting horn to be omitted. 
The usual chases are, the hart, buck, roe, hare, fox, badger, and 
otter. 

Hunting is practised in different seasons and manners, and 
with different apparatus, according to the nature of the beasts 
which are hunted. With regard to the seasons, that for hart 
and buck hunting, begins a fortnight after midsummer, and lasts 
till Holy- rood day ; that for the hind and doe, begins on Holy- 
rood day, and lasts till Candlemas ; that for fox hunting, begins at 
Christmas, and holds till Lady-day ; that for roe hunting, begins 
ftt Michaelmas, and ends at Christmas ; hare hunting commences 
at Michaelmas, and lasts till the end of February ; and where the 
wolf and boar are hunted, the season for each begins at Christ- 
mas, the first ending at Lad5''-day, and the latter at the Purification. 
When the sportsmen have provided themselves with nets, spears 
and a hunting horn to call the dogs together, and likewise witk 
instruments for diggni;/ the ground, the following directions wu 
be of use to them, in the pursuit of various sorts of game. 




HUNTING THE BADGER. 



HI 




CHAPTER VI. 

HUNTING THE BADGER. 

gV^ ^^"^ Badger is found in almost all the temperate 

/Ij^^lJ^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^ Europe, Asia, and America ; mea- 

\^0^^^m) ®"^^^ ^^ general about two feet and a half from 

r ^^ \ ?^^ ^"°"^ ^^ *^^ insertion of the tail. The body 

S '^H • ^^ ^^^^^' *^^ ^*^&s short and muscular, and th« 

^ -^^-^ ^ore feet provided with claws ; the superior part 

•f the body is of a dirty greyish color, the inferior black : the 



8L HUNTING ADVENTURES. 

hair iu long and rough on the jacn aiiU sides, hut shortei on the 
throat, breast, and belly. It secretes a fetid substance in an orifice 
under the tail, which gives it a very offensive smell. It is a soli- 
tary animal, and resi<les in woo<1y places, m burrows which it 
digs deep in the earth, with long winding entrances, and keeps 
remarkably clean. It feeds upon young rabbits, frogs, birds and 
iheir eggs and young ; but seldom ventures far from its habita- 
tion, and that only at nightfall. If surprised by dogs in its excur- 
sions, it turns upon its back, combats with desperate resolution, 
and seldom dies unrevenged ; nor is he easily conquered, for his 
skin is so thick and loose, that the teeth of a dog make but little 
impression. It is very torpid, especially in winter. The female 
brings forth once a-year, three or four at a time. When taken 
young, it is easily tamed, will play with the dogs, and follow its 
master about the house. Its flesh, when well and cleanly fed, 
makes excellent hams : those of the South American Badger were 
wont to be considered so delicious, that the sale of them was pro* 
hibited but to the viceroy, who sent an annual present to Madrid 
for the royal table. 




Our old friend, already quoted, gives the following directionf 
lor hunting the badger. 

Seek the earth and burrows where he lies, and jn a cleai 
moonshine night go and stop them all, except one or two, and 
therein place some sacks, fastened with drawing strings, which 
may shut him in as soon as he strains the bag. Some only set a 
hoop in the mouth of the sack, and so put it into the hole ; and as 
toon as the badger is in the sack and straineth it, the sack slip- 
peth off the hoop and follows him to the earth where he lies 



HUNTING THE BADGER. 33 



himbl'ng till he is tak'^^-n. These sacks Vcmg thus set, oast o^ 
the hounds, and beating about all the woods, coppices, hedgeSj 
and tufts, round about, for the compass of a mile or tv/o ; and 
such badgers as are abroad, being alarmed by the hounds, will 
soon betake themselves to their burrows. 

He who is placed to watch the sacks, must stand close, and upon 
t clear wind ; otherwise, the badger will discover him, and wiD 
jammediately fly some other way into his burrow. But if the 
flounds can encounter him, before he can take his sanctuary, he 
will then stand at bay like a boar, and make good sport, griev- 
ously biting and clawing the dogs, for the manner of their fight- 
ing is lying on their backs, using both teeth and nails ; and by 
blowing up their skins, defend themselves against all bites of the 
dogs, and blows of the men upon their noses. For the preserva- 
tion of the dogs, put broad collars about their necks, made of grey 
ftkins. 

When the badger perceives tne terriers begin to yearn him in 
lis burrow, he will stop the hole betwixt him and the terriers, and 
if they still continue baying, he will remove his couch into another 
chamber, or part of the burrow, and so from one to another, barri- 
cading the way before them, as they retreat, until they can go no 
further. If you intend to dig the badger out of his burrow, you 
must be provided with the same tools as for digging out a fox ; 
and should have a pail of water to refresh the terriers, when they 
come out of the earth to take breath and cool themselves. It will 
also be necessary to put collars with bells, about the necks of the 
werriers, which, making a noise, may cause the badger to bolt out. 
The tools used for digging out the badger being troublesome to 
be carried on men's backs, may be brought in a cart. 

In digging, consider the situation of the ground, by which you 
may judge where the chief angles are ; for else, instead of advanc- 
ing the work, you will hinder it. In this order you may besiege 
them in their holes, and work to them with mines and counter- 
mines until you have overcome them. Having taken a live 
badger, if you would make sport, carry him home in a sack, and 

turn him out in your court-yard, or some other mrlosed place 
o 



34 



BUNTING ADVENTURES. 



and there *et him be hunted and worried to death by 3' our hounds 

The flesh, blood, and grease, of the badger, though not good food, 
yet are useful in laboratories, for making oils, ointments, salves, 
and powders for shortness of breath, cough, the stone, sprained, 
sinews, colt-aches, &c. ; and the skin when well dressed, 's warm, 
and good for old people who are troubled with paralytit iis tem- 
per's 




HUNTING THE WILD BOAR. 



8A 




CHAPTER VII. 

HUNTING THE WILD BOAR. 

THE Wild Boar, the original stock, and 
once very plentiful in the British forests, 
is more sagacious and cleanly than the 
domesticated animal. He is smaller in 
body, with a longer snout, and short round 
ears ; he is likewise more uniform in color, 
being always of an iron-grey, shading into 
black : they feed chiefly upon acorns and 
other fruit ; they also plough up the ground for roots. They are 
partly gregarious, and the herds combine for mutual defence ; 
when attacked, they place the youngest and feeblest in the centre, 
and forming a semicircle, present a front which few of the largest 
animals will dare to attack, or if they do, will escape with impunity. 
The chase of the wiiu boar is a favorite amusement in thoso 
countries where he is found. He is hunted with the small mastiff: 
when "reared," he betrays little fear; going slowly forward, he 
stops at intervals, turns round and dares his pursuers, who, if 




36 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



experienced dogs, aware of his ferocity, bay at a respectful distance 
till he resume his course and proceed. When completely fatigued, 
me younger brood close upon him, and not unfrequently sutfer foi 
their rashness ; the hunters then finish the business with theil 
spears. If not too old, his flesh is highly esteemed, especially 
the hams. 




THE WILD BOAR. 

The Wild Boar among huntsmen, has several names, according 
to its different ages ; the first year, it is called a pig of the 
saunder ; the second, it is called a hog ; the third, a hog-steer ; 
and the fourth, a boar ; when leaving the saunder, he is called a 
singler or sangler. The boar generally lives to twenty-five or 
thirty years, if he escapes accidents. The time of rutting is in 
December, and lasts about three weeks. Boars feed on all sorts 
of fruits, and on the roots of many plants, particularly fern. When 
<i^ar the sea-coasts, they will descend to the shores and demolish 
the more tender shell-fish in very great numbers. Their general 
places of resst are among the thickest bushes that can be found ; 
%nd ihey are not easily put out of them, but will stand the bf.} a 
jong time. In April and May they sleep more sound than at any 
other time of the year. This is therefore the successful time for 
taking them in the toils. 

When a boar is roused out of the thicket, he always goes from 
It, if possible, the same way by which he came to it ; and when 
he i? once up, he will never stop till he comes to some place of 
more security. If it happens that a saunder of them are found 
logetlier, when any one breaks away, the rest all follow the samfl 



HUNTINQ THE WILD BOAR. 3S 



iray. When the boar is hunted in the wood where he was bred, 
he will scarce ever be brought to quit it ; he will sometimes make 
towards the sides to listen to the noise of the dogs, but retires into 
the middle again, a^nd usually dies or escapes there. 

When a boar runs ahead, he will not be stopped or put out of 
his way, by man or beast, so long as he has any strength left. 
He makes no doubles or crossings when chased. An old boaj 
when killed makes no noise ; the sows and pigs squeak when 
wounded. The season for hunting the wild boar begins in Sep- 
tember, and ends in December, when they go to rut. If it be a 
large boar, and one that has lain long at rest, he must be hunted 
with a great number of dogs, and those such as will keep close to 
Lim ; and the huntsman, with his spear, should always be riding 
in among them, and charging the boar as often as he can, to dis- 
courage him ; such a boar as this, with five or six couples of 
dogs, will run to the first place of shelter, and there stand at Day, 
and make at them as they attempt to come up with him. 

There ought always to be relays also set of the best and 
staunchest hounds in the kennel ; for if they are of young eager 
dogs, they will be apt to seize him, and be killed or spoiled before 
the rest come up. Collars with bells about the dog's necks are a 
great security for them ; for the boar will not so soon strike at 
them when they have these, but will rather run before them. 
The huntsmen generally kill the boar with their swords or spears; 
but great caution is necessary in making the blows ; for he is very 
apt to catch them upon his snout or tusks ; and if wounded and 
not killed, he will attack the huntsman in the most furious 
manner. 

The places to give the wound with the spear is either between the 
eyes in the middle of the forehead, or in the shoulder ; both these 
places make the wound mortal. When this animal makes at the 
hunter, there is nothing for it but courage and address ; if he flies 
he IS sure to be overtaken and killed. If the boar comes straight 
up, he is to be received at the point of the spear ; but if he makes 
doubles and windings, he is to be watched very cautiously, for he 
will attempt getting hold of the spear in his mouth ; and if he 



40 HUNTING ADVENTURES, 



doe 3, nothing tan save the huntsman, but another person attacking 
him behind ; he will on this attack the second person, and the 
first must then attack him again ; two people will thus have 
enough to do with him ; and were it not for the forks of the boar- 
spears that make it impossible to press forward upon them, the 
huntsman who gives the creature his death's wound would seldom 
escape falling a sacrifice to his revenge. 

The modern way of boar-hunting is generally to dispatch the 
creature by all the huntsmen striking him at once ; but the 
ancient Roman way was, for a person on foot, armed with a 
spear, to keep the creature at bay ; and in this case the boar 
would run of himself upon the spear to come at the huntsman, 
and push forward till the spear pierced him through. 

The hinder claws of a boar are called guards. In the corn, 
he is said to feed ; in the meadows or sallow-fields, to rout, worm, 
or fern ; in a close, to graze. The boar is farrowed with as many 
teeth as he will ever have ; his teeth increasing only in bigness, not 
in number ; among these there are four called tushes, or tusks ; 
the two biggest of which do not hurt when he strikes, but serve 
only to whet the other two lowest, with which the beast defends 
himself, and frequently kills, as being greater and longer than 
the rest. These creatures in the West Indies are subject to the 
stone ; few of them are absolutely free from it, yet scarce any ol 
them have the stones of any considerable size. It is common to 
find a great number in the same bladder. They are usually of 
about a scruple weight, and are angular and regular, each having 
five angles. Among the ancient Romans, boar's flesh was a deli 
cacy ; a boar served up a whole dish of state. The boar wa 
aometimes the military ensign of the Roman armies, in lieu o. 
the eagle. Among physicians, a boar's bladder has been repute*. 
a specific for the epilepsy. The tush of the wild boar still passe 
with some as of great efficacy in quinzies and pleurisies 




HUNTING THE BUFFALO. 




CAFPRE BUFFALO. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



HUNTING THE BUFFALO. 




INDER different names, this animal la 
widely diffused. He has long beem 
domesticated in India, where his ser- 
vices as a beast of draught and burden 
render him extremely valuable. From 
India he has spread into Egypt, Greece ; 
Italy and Spain. He is heavier, clum- 
sier, and more formidable than the ox 
»r the domestic bull. A variety found in Africa, called the leap 
Buffalo, is peculiarly ferocious. In its native regions, the buffalo 
IS considered by hunters, one of the most formidable beasts of 
chase. It is capable of contending with the tiger, which is often 
foiled in the deadly strife. When excited, the beast rushes des- 
perately on its foe, strikes him down with the horns or forehead, 
kneels upon him, crushing in his chest, and then tramples on th# 
lifeless body as if to satiate its vindictive fury. 

Dr. Sparrman gives the following description of the mode of 
hunting him at the Cape of Good Hope. " When we advanced 



44 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



to within twenty or thirty paces of the beast, and consequently 
were in some degree actuated by our fears, we discharged oul 
pieces pretty nearly at the same time ; while the buffalo, which 
was upon rather lower ground than we were, behind a thin scam- 
bling bush, seemed to turn his head around m order to make 
toward us. In the meanwhile, hovvever, the moment we had 
discharged our guns, we had the pleasure to see him fall, and 
directly afterwards run down into the thickest part of the wood 
This induced us to hope that our shot had proved mortal ; fo' 
which reason, we had the imprudence to follow him down intc 
tbe close thickets, where luckily for us we could get no farther 
We had, however, as we found afterwards, only hit the hindmost 
part of the chine, where the balls, which lay at the distance of 
three inches from each other, had been shivered to pieces against 
the bones. 

<<In the meanwhile, our. temerity, which chiefly proceeded from 
hurry and ignorance, was considered by the Hottentots as a proof 
of spirit and intrepidity hardly to be equalled ; on which account, 
from that instant they appeared to entertain an infinitely higher 
opinion of our courage than they had ever done before. Severa, 
of our Hottentots now came to us, and threw stones down into 
the dale, though without success, in order to find out, by the bellow- 
ings of the beast, whither he had retired : afterwards, however 
he seemed to have plucked up his courage, for he came up at 
last out of the dale of his own accord, to the skirts of the wood, 
and placed himself so as to have a full view of us on the spot, 
where we were resting ourselves somewhat higher up : his inten« 
lion was, in all probability, and in the opinion of old sportsmen, 
o revenge himself on us, if we had not happened to see him in 
time, and fired at him directly. 

" What, perhaps, put a stop to his boldness was, that we stood 
on higher ground than he did : for several veteran sportsmen have 
assured me of it as a fact, that they kn#w from experience, that 
the buffaloes do not willingly venture to ascend any hill or emi- 
Bence in order to attack any one. The third shot, which after* 
wards was observed to have entered at the belly, was fatal. Thij 



HUNTINa THE BUFFALO. 45 



occasioned the buffalo to take himself down again ii.to the vale, 
dyeing the ground and bushes all the way he went Wilh his 
blood. 

"Though still hot upon the chase, yet we advanced with the 
greatest caution, accompanied by two of our Hottentots, through 
the this and more pervious part of the wood, where the buflTalo 
had taken refuge. He was advancing again to attack some of us, 
when Mr. Immelman, from the place where he was posted, shot 
him in the lungs. Notwithstanding this, he had still strength 
enough left to make a circuit of one hundred and fifty paces, 
before we heard him fall; duiing his fall, and before he died, he 
bellowed in a most stupendous manner. And this death-song of 
his, inspired every one of us with joy, on account of the victory 
we had gained ; and so thoroughly steeled is frequently the 
human heart against the sufferings of the brute creation, that we 
hastened forwards, to enjoy the pleasure of seeing the buffalo 
struggle with the pangs of death. 1 happened to be the foremost 
amongst them ; but think it impossible for anguish, accompanied 
by a savage fierceness, to be painted in stronger colors than they 
were in the countenance of this buffalo. I was within ten steps 
of him when he perceived me, and bellowing raised himself 
suddenly again on his legs. I had reason to believe since, that I 
was at the time very much frightened ; for before I could well 
take my aim, I fired off* my gun, and the shot missed the whole 
of his huge body, and only hit him in the hind legs, as we after- 
wards discovered by the size of the balls. Immediately upon 
this I flew away like lightning, in order to look out for some tree to 
climb up into. Notwithstanding the tedious prolixity it might 
occasion me to be guilty of, I thought the best and readiest methoQ 
of giving my reader an idea of the nature of this animal, and of 
the method of hunting it, as well as of other contingent circum- 
stances, would be to adduce an instance or two, of what occuired 
during the chase." 



i6 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




THE CHAMOIS. 

CHAPTER IX. 

HUNTING THE CHAMOIS. 



>^^m^= 




"^ HE Chamois, or Alpine Goati 
formerly considered as the 
parent of the domestic breed» 
has by later naturalists been 
placed as a distinct species. 
In its general features, how- 
ever, with the exception of 
the horns, which, of a beau- 
tiful black, rise between the 
eyes, bend backward, and 
terminate in hooks, and the 
want of a beard, the chamois 
greatly resembles the tame 
goat. Its height is about 
two feet three or four 
inches : its hair is short like 
that of the doe. of an ; 



HUNTING THE CHAMOIS. 47 

color, varying to blackish-brown. Its habitations are among the 
Alps the Pyrenees, and the lofty mountains of Asia, bordering on 
the regions of everlasting ice and snow. It is agreeable, lively, 
and active beyond expression: its senses are amazingly acute, and 
by the scent, it is said, will discover the hunter at half a league's 
distance. They feed in flocks of nearly twenty or more; and 
those at the outskirts, or perhaps a single sentinel when they per- 
ceive danger, give notice to the rest by a kind of hissing noise, 
shrilJ at the beginning, and deeper towards the close, during which 
they appear in the utmost agitation, striking the ground with their 
fore feet, bounding from rock to rock, turning, stopping, and looking, 
till ihe approach of the enemy is ascertained, when off the whole 
fly like the wind, and defy pursuit amid the awful chasms of the 
glaciers, on the stupendous precipices of the rocks ; for their spring 
is astonishing, and they will throw themselves safely down an 
almost perpendicular height of twenty or thirty feet. It drinks 
little, and is rather fastidious in its feeding, picking out buds and 
flowers and the tenderest of the aromatic herbs, which gives to its 
flesh a delicious flavor. 

From the description given by M. Saussure, in his Journey on 
the Alps, Vol. 3, no species of hunting appears to be attended 
with more danger than this ; yet the inhabitants of Chamouni »re 
extremely addicted to it. 

The Chamois hunter generally sets out in the night, that he 
may reach by break of day the most elevated pastures where the 
goats come to feed, before they arrive. As soon as he discovers 
the place where he hopes to find them, he surveys it with his 
glass. If he finds none of them there, he proceeds, always 
ascending : whenever he descries any, he endeavors to get above 
them, either by stealing along some gully, or getting behind some 
rock or eminence. When he is near enough to distinguish then 
horns, which is the mark by which he judges of the distance, ho 
rests his piece on a rock, takes his aim with great composure, and 
rarely misses. This piece is a rifle-barrelled carabine, into which 
the bail is thrust, and these carabines often contain two charges. 



iS HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



ihoigh they iiave but one barrel ; the charges are put one above 
another, and are fired in succession. If he has wounded the 
chamois, he runs to his prey, and for security he hamstrings it ; 
then he considers his way home : if the road is difficuU, he skins 
die chamois, and leaves the carcase ," but, if it is practicable, he 
throws the animal on his shoulders, and bears him to his village, 
though at a great distance, and often over frightful precipices ; he 
feeds his family with the flesh, which is excellent, especially when 
the creature is young, and he dries the skin for sale. But if, as 
is the common case, the vigilant chamois perceives the approach 
cf the hunter, he immediately takes flight among the glaciers, 
through the snows, and over the most precipitous rocks. 

It is particularly difficult to get near these animals when there 
are several together ; for then one of them, while the rest are 
feeding, stands as a sentinel on the point of some rock that com- 
mands a view of the avenues leading to the pasture ; and as soon 
as he perceives any object of alarm, he utters a sort of hiss, at 
which the others instantly gather round him to judge for them- 
selves of the nature of the danger ; if it is a wild beast, or hunter, 
the most experienced puts himself at the head of the flock ; and 
away they fly, ranged in a hne, to the most inaccessible retreats. 
It is here that the fatigues of the hunter begin : instigated by his 
passion for the chase, he is insensible to danger ; he passes over 
snows, without thinking of the horrid precipices they conceal ; he 
entangles himself among the most dangerous paths, and bounds 
from rock to rock, without knowing how he is to return. 

Night often surprises him in the midst of his pursuit ; but he 
Joes not for that reason abandon it ; he hopes that the same cause 
wi'.l arrest the flight of the chamois, and that ho will next morning 
overtake them. Thus he passes the night, not at the foot of a 
tree, like the hunter ol the plain ; not in a grotto, softly reclined 
on a bed of moss, but at the foot of a rock, and often on the bare 
points of shattered fragments, without the smallest shelter. There, 
ftli alone, without fire, without light, he draws from his bag a bit 
>f cheese, with a morsel of oaten bread, which make his commoB 



HUNTING THE CHAMOIS. 49 



food ; bread so dry that he is sometimes obliged to bi^jak it 
between two stones, or with the hatchet he carries with bim to 
cut out steps in the ice. 

Having thus made his solitary and frugal repast, he puts a stone 
below his head for a pillow, and goes to sleep, dreaming on the 
route which the chamois may have taken. But soon he is awakened 
by the freshness of the morning; he gets up, benumbed with cold: 
surveys the precipices which he must traverse to overtake his 
game; drinks a Httle brandy, of which he is always provided with 
a small portion, and sets out to encounter new dangers. Hunters 
sometimes remain in these solitudes for several days together, 
during which time their families, their unhappy wives in particular 
sxperience a state of the most dreadful anxiety: they dare not go 
to rest for fear of seeing their husbands appear to them in a drdam , 
for it is a received opinion in the country, that when a man a as 
perished, either in the snow, or on some unknown rock, he apj/^arb 
by night to the person he holds most dear, describes the pi ice that 
proved fatal to him, and requests the performance of the Wt duties 
io his corpse. "After this picture (says M. Saussure,) of the life 
ivhich the chamois hunters lead, could one imagine that th"s chase 
would be the object of a passion absolutely unsurmount&ble ? I 
knew a well-made, handsome man, who had just married a beau- 
tiful woman: — 'My grand- father, said he to me, lost his life 
in the chase ; so did my father ; and I am persuaded, that I too 
shall die in the same manner ; this bag which I carry with me 
when I hunt, 1 call my grave-clothes, for I am sure I will have no 
other ; yet if you should offer to make my fortune on condition of 
abandoning the chase of the chamois, I could not consent. I made 
some excursions on the Alps with this man; his strength and 
address were astonishing ; but his temerity was greater than his 
strength ; and I have heard, that two years afterwards, he missed 
a step on the brink of a precipice, and met with the fate he had 
expected.' 



so 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




CHAPTER X. 



HUNTING THE FOX. 

OX-HUNTING is so common and has st 
long prevailed in England, that the term 
"fox-hunting squire" was supposed to 
be sufficiently accurate for describing an 
^ English country gentleman until a recent 
period. It was the universal passion of 
the English rural gentry of the last 
century ; and it is still regarded among 
a certain class as by far the most delight- 
ful and exciting of all the sports of the field. 

Our old friend already quoted treats the art and mystery of Foi 
Hunting with his accustomed gravity and earnestness. 

Hunting the fox, he says, makes a very pleasant exercise, and 
18 either above or below ground. 

Hunting the fox above ground. To hunt a fox with hounds, 
you must draw about groves, thickets, and bushes near viliag-es 
When you find one, stop up his earth the night before you design 
to hunt, about midnicht ; while he is out to prey. This ma\ 1* 




HUNTING THE FOX. 61 
i 

done by laying two white sticks across m his way, which he will 
imagine to be some trap laid for him; or they may be stopped up 
with black thorns and earth mixed. The pack should consist of 
twenty-five couple. The hounds should be at the cover at sun- 
rising. The huntsman should then throw in his hounds as quietly 
as he can, and let the two whippers-in keep wide of him on either 
hand ; so that a single hound may not escape them ; let them be 
attentive to this halloo, and let the sportsmen be ready to encourage 
or rate as that directs. The fox ought on no account to be hallooed 
too soon, as in that case he would most certainly turn back, and 
spoil all the sport. 

Two things Mr. Beckford particularly recommends, viz., the 
making all the hounds steady, and makmg them all draw. 
'^ Many huntsmen, (says he^ are fond of having them at their 
horse's heels ; but they never can get so well or soon together, as 
when they spread the cover ; besides, I have often known, when 
there have only been a few finders, that they have found their fox 
gone down the wind, and been heard of no more that day. 
Much depends upon the first finding of your fox ; for I look upon 
a fox well found to be half killed. I think people are generally 
in too great a hurry on this occasion. 

" There are but few instances where sportsmen are not too 
noisy, and too fond of encouraging their hounds, which seldom do 
their business so well as when little is said to them. The hunts- 
man ought to begin with his foremost hounds, and keep as close 
to them as he can. No hound can then slip down the wind and 
get out of his hearing ; he will also see how far they carry the 
scent, a necessary requisite ; for without it he can never make 
cast with any certainty." 

You will find it not less necessary for your huntsman to be 
active in pressing his hounds forward when the scent is good, than 
to be prudent in not hurrying them beyond ic when it is bad. It 
IS his business to be ready at all times, to lend them that assistance 
which they so frequently need, and which, .vhen they are first at 
a fault is then most critical. A hound at that time will exert him- 
self most ; he afterwards cools and becomes more indifferent about 



52 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



his game. Those huntsmen who do not get forward enough to 
take advantage of this eagerness and impetuosity, and direct i\ 
properly, seldom know enough of hunting, to be of much use to 
hem afterwards. 

Though a huntsman cannot be too fond of hunting, a whipper- 
in easily may. His business will seldom allow him to be forward 
enough with the hounds to see much of the sport. His only 
thought therefore should be to keep the hounds together, and to 
contribute as much as he can, to the killing of the fox ; keeping 
the hounds together is the surest means to make them steady 
When left to themselves they seldom refuse any blood they can 
get; they become conceited; learn to tie upon the scent; and 
besides this, they frequently get a trick of hunting by themselves, 
and are seldom good for much afterwards. Every country is 
soon known ; and nine foxes out of ten, with the wind in the 
same quarter, will follow the same track. It is easy therefore for 
the whipper-in to cut short, and catch the hounds again. 

With a high scent you cannot push on hounds too much. 
Screams keep the fox forward, at the same time that they keep 

the hounds together, or let in 
the tail-hounds : they also en- 
Hven the sport ; and, if dis- 
cretely used, are always of 
service ; but in cover they 
should be given v/ith the 
greatest caution. Halloos sel- 
dom do any hurt when you 
are running up the wind, for 
then none but the tail-hounds can hear you : when you are run- 
ning down the wind, you should halloo no more than may be 
necessary to bring the tail hounds forward ; for a hound that 
knows his business seldom wants encouragement when he is 
upon a scent. 

Most fox hunters, wish to see their hounds run in a good style 
A pack of harriers, if they have time, may kill a fox, but I defy 
them to kill him in the «yle in which he ought to be killed ,• 




HUNTING THE FOX. 63 



they must hunt him down. If you intend to tire him or.t, you 
must expect to be tired also yourself ; I never wish a chase to be 
less than one hour, or to exceed two ; it is sufficiently long- if 
properly followed ; it will seldom be longer, unless there be a 
fault somewhere : either in the day, the huntsman, or the hounds. 
Changing from the hunted fox to a ^resh one, is as bad an acci- 
dent as can happen to a pack of fox hnunds, and requires all the 
ingenuity and observation that man if capable of, to guard against 
it. Could a fox hound distinguish a hunted fox, as the deer 
hound does a deer that is blown, (ox hunting would then be 
perfect, 

A huntsman should always listen to bis hounds while they are 
running in cover ; he should be particularly attentive to the head- 
most hounds, and he should be constantly on his guard against a 
skirter ; for if there be two scents, he mu%i be wrong. Generally 
speaking, the best scent is least likely to be that of the hunted 
fox ; and as a fox seldom suffers hounds to x^ui up to him as long 
as he is able to prevent it ; so, nine times ov* of ten, when foxes 
are hallooed early in the day, they are al' ^resh foxes. Th« 
hounds most likely to be right are the hard-ru. niug line-hunting 
ones ; or such as the huntsman knows had the load before there 
arose any doubt of changing. 

With regard to the fox, if he break over and ope*- country, it 
IS no sign that he is hard run ; for they seldom at ar\ *ime wiD 
do that unless they are a great way before the hounds. Also if 
he run up the wind ; they seldom or never do that when they 
have been long hunted and grow weak ; and when they run their 
soiU that also may direct him. All this requires a good ear and 
nice observation ; and indeed in that consists the chief excellence 
f a huntsman. 

When the hounds divide in two parts, the whipper-in, in stop- 
ping, must attend to the huntsman, and wait for his halloo, before 
he attempts to stop either ; for want of proper management m 
this, I have known the hounds stopped at both places, and both 
foxes lost. If they have many scents, and it is uncertain which 
V) the hunted (oi let him stop those that are ^rthest down the 



64 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



wind : as they can hear the others, and will reach them soonest ; 
in such a case there will be little use in stopping those that are 
up the wind. When hounds are at a check, let every one be 
silent and stand still. Whippers-in are frequently at this time 
coming on with the tail hounds. They should never halloo to 
them when the hounds are at fault ; the least thing does them 
harm at such a time, but a halloo more than any other. The 
huntsman, at a check, had better let his hounds alone ; or content 
himself with holding them forward, without taking them off their 
floses. Should they be at fault, after having made their own cast, 
(which the huntsman should always first encourage them to do) it 
is then his business to assist them further ; but, except in some 
particular instances, I never approve of their being cast as long as 
they are inclined to hunt. -^ 

The first cast I bid my huntsman make is generally a regulai 
ane, not choosing to rely entirely on his judgment ; if that should 
not succeed, he is then at liberty to follow his own opinion, and 
proceed as observation or genius may direct. When such a cast 
is made, I like to see some mark of good sense and meaning in 
it ; whether down the wind, or towards some likely cover or 
strong earth. However, as it is at best uncertain, I always wish 
to see a regular cast before I see a knowing one ; which, as a last 
resource, should not be called forth until it be wanted. The letting 
hounds alone is but a negative goodness in a huntsman ; whereas 
this last shows real genius ; and to be perfect, it must be born 
with him. There is a fault, however, which a knowing hunts- 
man is too apt to commit : he will find a fresh fox, and then claim 
the merit of having recovered the hunted one. It is always dan- 
gerous to throw hounds into a cover to retrieve a lost scent ; anc 
inless they hit him in, is not to be depended oh. 

Gentlemen, when hounds are at fault, are too apt themselves to 
prolong it. They should always stop their horses some distance 
behind the hounds ; and if it be possible to remain silent this is 
ihe time. They should be careful not to ride before the hounds 
or over the scent ; nor should they ever meet a hound in the face 
unless to stop him. Should you at any time be before the 



HUNTING THE FOX. 55 

hounds, turn your horse's head the way they are going, get out 
of their track, and let them pass by you. In dry weather, and 
particularly in heathy countries, foxes will run the roads. If 
gentlemen at such times will ride close upon the hounds, they 
may drive them miles without any scent. High mettled fox- 
hounds are seldom inclined to stop whilst horses are close at their 
heels. No one should ever ride in a direction which, if persisted 
in, would carry him amongst the hounds, unless he be at a great 
distance behind them. 

I'he first moment that hounds are at fault is a critical one for 
the sport people, who should then be very attentive. Those who 
look forward may perhaps see the fox, or the running of sheep, 
or the pursuit of crows, may give them some tidings of him 
Those who listen may sometimes take a hint which way he is 
gone from the chattering of a magpie ; or perhaps be at certainty 
from a distant halloo ; nothing that can give any intelligence at 
such a time ought to be neglected. 

Gentlemen are too apt to ride all together : were they to spread 
more, they might sometimes be of service ; particularly those 
who, from a knowledge of the sport, keep down the wind ; it 
would then be difficult for either hounds or fox to escape their 
observation. You should, however, be cautious how you go to a 
halloo. The halloo itself must in a great measure direct you ; 
and though it afford no certain rule, yet you may frequently guess 
whether it can be depended upon or not. 

At the sowing time, when boys are keeping off the birds, yoiz 
will sometimes be deceived by their halloo ; so that it is best. 
when you are in doubt, to send a whipper-in to know '.he cer- 
tainty of the matter. Hounds ought not to be cast so long as they 
are able to hunt. It is a common idea, that a hunted fox never 
stops ; but Mr. Beckford informs us that he has known them ston 
even in wheei-ruis in the middle of a down, and get up m the 
niiddle of the hounds. The greatest danger of losing a fox is at 
the first finding him, and when he is sinking; at both which 
limes he will run short, and the eagerness of the hounds will fre 
^uently carry them beyond the scent. 



56 HxJNTING ADVENTFRl 



When a fox is first found, every one ought to keep bcAind tha 
hounds till they are well settled to the scent ; and when the 
hounds are catching him, they ought to be as silent as possible ; 
and eat him eagerly after he is caught. In some places they have 
a method of treeing him ; that is, throwing him across the branch 
of a tree, and suffering the hounds to bay at him for some minutes 
before he is thrown amongst them ; the intention of which is to 
make them more eager, and to let in the tail-hounds ; during thia 
mterval also they recover their wind, and are apt to eat him more 
readily. Our author, however, advises not to keep him too long, 
Rs he supposes that the hounds have not any appetite to eat him 
longer than while they are angry with him. 




Hunting the fox under ground. In case a fox escape so as to 
earth, countrymen must be got together with shovels, spades, pick- 
axes, &c., to dig him out, if they think the earth not too great. 
They make their earths as near as they can in ground that 19 
hard to lig, as in clay, stony ground, or amongst the roots of 
trees ; and their earths have commonly but one hole, and that is 
straight and a long way in before you come at their couch. 
Sometimes they take possession of a badger's old burrow, "hf^h 
has a variety of chambers, holes, and angles. 

To facilitate this way of hunting the fox, the huntsman m«si 
be provided with one or two terriers to put into the earth after 
him, that is, to fix him into an angle ; for the earth often consists 
of many angles ; the use of the terrier is to know where he lies ; 
for as soon as he finds him, he continues baying or barking, so 
shat which way the noise is heard that way dig to him. Youl 



HUNTING THE FOX. 



57 



terriers must be garnished with bells hung in collars, to make the 
fox bolt the sooner ; besides, the collars will be some small defenc€ 
to the terriers. The instruments to dig withal are these ; a sharp- 
pointed spade, which serves to begin the trench where the ground 
is hardest, and broader tools will not so well enter ; the round, 
hollowed spade, which is useful to dig among roots, having very 
sharp edges ; the broad, flat spade to dig withal, when the trencli 
has been pretty well opened, and the ground softer ; mattock i 
and pickaxes to dig in hard ground, where a spade will do bul 
jittle service ; the coal-rake to cleanse the hole, and to keep it 
from stopping up ; clamps, wherewith you may take either fox or 
badger out alive to make some sport with afterwards. And it 
would be very convenient to have a pail of water to refresh youi 
♦*jrriers with, after they have come out of the earth to take breath 




AN ENQUSH HUNTXB. 



'>8 



flUNTINO ADVENTURES. 




''^x%%j|:a^* 



CHAPTER XL 

HUNTING THE HARE. 

S of all chases, the iiare makes the 
greatest pastime, so it gives no little 
pleasure to see the craft of this small 
animal for her self-preservation. If it 
be ramy, the hare usually takes to the 
high-ways; and if she comes to the side 
of a young grove, or spring, she seldom 
enters, but squats down till the hounds 
have overshot her; and then she wil« 
return the way she came, for fear of the wet and dew that hangs 
on the boughs. In this case, the huntsman ought to stay one hun- 
dred paces before he comes to the wood-side, by which means he 
will perceive whether she return as aforesaid ; which if she do, 
he must haloo in his hounds ; and call them back ; and thai 
presently, that the hounds may not think it the counter she came 
first 




HUNTING THE HARE. 61 




A HARE SITTING IN HER FORM 

The net. thing to be observed, is the place where the haiB sits 
tnd upon what wind she makes her form, either upon the North 
or South wind: she will not willingly run into the wind, but upon 
aside, or down the wind ; but if she form in the water, it is a sign 
she is foul and measled ; if you hunt such a one, have a special 
regard all the day to the brook-sides ; for there, and near plashes 
she will make all her crossings, doublings, &c. 

Some hares are so crafty, that as soon as they hear the sound 
of a horn, they instantly start out of their form, though it were at the 
distance of a quarter of a mile, and go and swim in some pool, and 
rest upon some rush bed in the midst of it. Such will not stir 
thence till they hear the sound of the horn, and then they start 
out again, and swimming to land, and standing up before the hounds 
for hours before they can kill her, swimming and using all sub- 
tleties and crossings in the water. Nay, such is the subtlety of a 
hare, that sometimes after she has been hunted three hours, she 
will start a fresh hare, and squat in the same form. Others, after 
being hunted a considerable time, will creep under the door of a 
sheep-cot, and hide themselves among the sheep ; or when they 
have been hard hunted, will run in among a flock of sheep, and 
will by no means be gotten out till the hounds are coupled up, and 
the sheep driven into their pens. Some of them will take the 
ground like a coney, which is called going to the vault Some 
will go up one side of the hedge and come down the other, the thick- 
less of the hedge being the only distance between the courses. 



62 HUNTING ADVENTIJRES. 



A hare that has been sorely hunted, has got upon i /uicksct 
hedge, and run a good way upon the top thereof, and then leaped 
off upon the ground. And they frequently betake themselves to 
furze bushes, and leap from one to the other, whereby the hounds 
are frequently in default. Having found where a large hare has 
relieved in some pasture or corn field, you must then consider the 
season of the year, and the weather : for if it be in spring or sum- 
mor, a hare will not then set iri bushes, because they are often in 
fested with pismires, snakes, and adders ; but will set in corn fields, 
and open places. In winter, they set near towns ar.d villages, in 
tufts of thorns and brambles, especially when the wind is northerly 
or southerly. According to the season and nature of the place 
where the hare is accustomed to sit, there beat with your hounds, 
and start her ; which is better sport than trailing her from her relief 
to her form. After the hare has been started and is on foot, step 
in where you saw her pass, and halloo in your hounds, until they 
have all undertaken it and go on with it in full cry : then recheat 
to them with your horn, following fair and softly at first, making 
not too much noise either with horn or voice ; for at the first, hounds 
are apt to overshoot the chase through too much heat. But when 
they have run an hour, and you see the hounds are well in with 
it, and stick well upon it, then you may come in nearer with them 
because their heat will then be cooled, and they will hunt mors 
Boberly. 




HUNTING TFj: STAG. 



S6 




CHAPTER XII. 



HUNTING THE STAG. 

TAG hunting has long been th' favorite 
sport of royal and noble h** iters in 
Europe. The ancient Romains and 
Greeks practised it, as may be shown 
by many passages in the classics. In 
the middle ages it was one of the chief 
amusements of the hardy barons ; and it 
is still practised in Britain, as well as in 
France and other continental countries, 
and occasionally in the United States. 

We quote from our former authority the directions to the hunter 
for this sport. 

Gesner, speaking of hart-hunting, observes, that this wild, and 
subtle beast, frequently deceives its hunter by windings and turn- 
ings. Wherefore the prudent hunter must train his dogs with 
words of art, that he may be able to set them on and take them off 




66 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



at pleasure. First he should encompass the beast in her own lair^ 
and so unharbor her in the view of the dogs, that so they may 
never lose her slot or footing. Neither must he set upon every 
one, either of the herd or those that wander solitary alone, or a 
httle one ; but partly by sight, and partly by their footing and 
fumets, make a judgment of the game, and also observe the large- 
ness of his lair. 

The huntsman having made these discoveries in order to the 
chase, takes off the couplings of the dogs: and some on horseback, 
and others on foot, follow the cry, with the greatest art, observation, 
and speed ; remembering and intercepting him in his subtle turn- 
ings and headings ; with all agility leaping hedges, gates, pales, 
ditches ; neither fearing thorns, down hills, nor woods, but mounting 
a fresh horse if the first tire. Follow the largest head of the whole 
herd, which must be singled out of the chase ; which the dogs 
perceiving, must follow, not following any other. The dogs are 
animated to the sport by the winding of horns, and the voices of the 
huntsmen. But sometimes the crafty beast sends forth his httle 
squire to be sacrificed to the dogs and hunters, instead of himself, 
lying close the meantime. In this case, the huntsman must sound 
a retreat, break off the dogs, and take them in, that is, leam them 
again, until they be brought to the fairer game ; which riseth with 
fear, yet still striveth by flight, until he be wearied and breathless. 
The nobles call the beast a wise hart, who, to avoid all his enemies, 
runneth into the greatest herds, and so brings a cloud of error on 
the dogs, to obstruct their farther pursuit ; sometimes also bearing 
some of the herd into his footings, so that he may the more easily 
escape by amusing the dogs. Afterwards he betakes himself to 
his heels again, still running with the wind, not only for the sake 
of refreshment, but also because he can thus more easily hear the 
voice of his pursuers whether they be far off, or near. But being 
again discovered by the hunters and sagacious scent of the dogs, ho 
flies into herds of cattle, as cows, sheep, &c., leaping on a cow or 
ox, laying the fore-parts of his body thereon, so that touching tho 
earth only with his hinder feet, he may leave very little. or no scent 
behind. But their usual manner is, when they see themselvei 



HUNTING THE 6TA0. 



67 




«TAG DRINKING. 



hard beset, and every way intercepted, to make force at their enemy 
with their horns, who first comes upon him, unless they be pre- 
vented by spear or sword. 

When the beast is slain, the huntsman windeth the fall of the 
beast ; and then the whole company come up, blowing their horna 
in triumph for such a conquest; among whom the skilfuUest opens 
the beast, and rewards the hounds with what properly belongs to 
them, for their future encouragement, for which purpose the hunts- 
men dip bread in the blood of the beast to give to the hounds. It 
is very dangerous to go into a hart at bay ; o, which there are two 
sorts, one on land and the other in water. If i.ie hart be in a deep 
water, where you cannot well come at him, couple up your dogs ; 
for should they continue long in the water, it wou.d endanger their 
surbating or foundering. In this case get a boat, and swim to him, 
with a drawn dagger, or else with rope that has a noose, and throw 
It over his horns ; for if the water be so deep that the hart swims, 
there is no danger in approaching him ; otherwise you must be 
very cautious. 

As to the land bay, if a hart be burnished, consider the place ; 
for if it be in a plain and open place, where there is no wood or 
covert, it is dangerous and difficult to come into him ; but if he b« 



68 HUNTINS ADVENTURES. 




STAG AT BAY. 



on the iedge-side, or in a thicket, then, while the hart is staring 
on the iiounds, you must come softly and covertly behind him, and 
cut his throat. If you miss your aim, and the hart turn head upon 
you, then take refuge at some tree ; and when the hart is at bay, 
couple up your hounds ; and when you see the hart turn head to 
fly, gallop in roundly to him, and kill him with your sword. 

The first ceremony, when the huntsman comes in to the death 
of a deer, is to cry ware haunch, that the hounds may not break 
in to the deer ; which being done, the next is the cutting his throat, 
and blooding the yo ingest hounds, that they may the better love a 
deer, and learn to Jeap at his throat : then the mort having been 
blown, and all the company come in, the best person, who hath not 
tali««.^ say before, is to take up the knife that the keeper or hunts- 
mjM* IS to lay across the belly of the deer, some holding by the 
forv legs, the person who takes say, is to draw the edge of the knife 
leisurely along the middle of the belly, beginning near the brisket, 
and drawing a little upon it, enough in the length and depth to dis- 
cover how fat the deer is ; then he that is to break up the deer, first 
elits the skin from the cutting of the throat downwards, making the 
arber that so the ordure may not break forth, and then with her 
paunches rewarding the hounds. In the next place, he is to 



HUNTING THE STAG, 



$9 



presBfU the same person who took say, w a drawn hanger, ta 
cut off the head of the deer. Which being ione, and the hounds 
rewarded, the concluiing ceremony is, if it be a stag, to draw a 
triple mort ; and if a buck, a double one ; «nd then all who have 
horns, blow a recheat in concert, and immediately a generaJ 
whoop. 




A nuxiK 



70 



U [JNTING ADVENTURES. 




ANTELOPE. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



MODE OF HUNTING THE INDIAN ANTELOPE. 

' UNTING quadrupeds with 
the falcon or hawk is 
much practised in the Edst. 
Several species of birds of 
prey pursue and capture 
quadrupeds m iheir wild 
state ; and in Persia, India, 
and Barbary, falcons and 
hawks are carefully trained 
for this purpose. The Indian Antelope is the most common 
object of this sport. 

This animal has long, prominently annulated, tapering, plaited, 

tyjindrical horns, and inhabits Barbary. The hair near the 

3ins is longer than on any other part of the body. The femalej 




HUNTING THE INDIAN ANTELOPE. 71 



urant horns. M. Hasselquist gives the following account o** this 
speciejr . " The cervicapra is larger, swifter, and wilder than thft 
common rock goat, and can scarcely be taken without a falcon. 
It is met with near Aleppo. I have seen a variety of this, which 
IS common in the East, and the horns appear different ; perhaps it 
is a distinct species. This animal loves the smoke of tobacco ; 
and, when caught alive, will approach the pipe of the huntsman, 
diough otherwise more timid than any animal. This is perhaps 
.he only creature, besides man, that dehghts in the smell of a 
poisonous and stinking plant." 

M. Hasselquist describes the manner of hunting these animals 
in Aral ia, as follows ; " I had an excellent opportunity of seeing 
this sport near Nazareth, in Galilee. An Arab, mounted on a 
swift courser, held the faJcon in his hand, as huntsmen commonly 
do ; when he espied the rock goat on the top of a mountain, he 
let loose the falcon, which flew in a direct line like an arrow, and 
attacked the animal ; fixing the talons of one of his feet in the 
cheek of the creature, and the other into his throat, extending his 
wings obliquely over the animal ; spreading one towards one of 
its ears, and the other to the opposite hip. The animal thus 
attacked, made a leap twice the height of a man, and freed him- 
self from the falcon ; but being wounded, and losing his strength 
and speed, he was again attacked by the falcon; which fixed the 
talons of both his feet into the throat of the animal, and held iX 
fast, till the huntsman coming up, took it alive, and cut its throat ; 
the falcon drinking the blood as a reward for his labor. A 
young falcon which was learning, was likewise put to the throat 
of the goat ; young falcons being thus taught to fix their talous in 
the throat of the animal as the most proper part." 




72 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




■'-^^^^i.a 




t 



CHAPTER XIV. 

HUNTING THE LION ON HORSEBACK. 

iHE chase of the lion on horseback is carried 
on at the Cape of Good Hope, in the follow- 
ing manner, as described by Dr. Sparrman : << It 
is only on the plains that the hunters venture 
to go out on horseback in this chase. If the Hon 
keeps in some coppice or wood, on a rising ground, they endeavor 
to teaze it with dogs till it comes out ; they likewise prefer going 
together, two or more in number, to be able to assist each other, in 
case the first shot should not lake effect. 

*' When the Hon sees the hunters at a great distance, he take» 
to his heels as fast as he can, in order to get out of their sight ; but 
if they chance to discover him at a small distance from them, he 
is then said to walk ofl^ in a surly manner, but without putting 
himself in the least hurry, as though he was above sJiowing any 
fear, Avhen he finds himself discovered or hunted'. He is there- 
fore reported hkewise, when he finds himself pursued with vigor, 
to be soon provoked to resistance, or at least he disdains any longei 



HUNTINQ THE LION ON HORSEBACK. 73 

to fly Consequently he slackens his pace, and at length onlj 
slides slowly off, step by step, all the while eying his pursuers 
ftskant ; and finally makes a full stop, and turning round upon 
them, and at the same time giving himself a shake, roars with a 
short and sharp tone, to show his indigiiation, being ready to seize 
on them, and tear them in pieces. 

" This is the time for the hunters to be on the spot, or to get 
within a certain distance of him, yet so as to keep a proper dis- 
tance from each other ; and he that is nearest, or is most advan- 
tageously posted, and has the best mark of his heart and lungs, 
must be the first to jump off his horse, and, securing the bridle by 
putting it round his arm, discharge his piece ; then in an instant 
recovering his seat, must ride obliquely athwart his companions ; 
and giving his horse the reins, must trust entirely to the speed 
and fear of the latter, to convey him out of the reach of the wild 
beast, in case he has only wounded him, or has missed him. In 
either of these cases, a fair opportunity presents for some of the 
other hunters to jump off their horses directly, as they may then 
take their aim and discharge their pieces with greater coolness 
and certainty. Should this shot likewise miss (which, however, 
seldom happens), the third sportsman rides after the lion, which 
at that instant is in pursuit of the first or the second, and, spring- 
ing off his horse, fires his piece, as soon as he has got within a 
proper distance, and finds a sufficiently convenient part of the 
animal present itself, especially obhquely from behind. If now 
the lion turns upon him too, the other hunters turn again, to come 
to his rescue with the charge which they loaded on horseback, 
while they were flying from the wild beast. 

« No instance has ever been known of any misfortune happen- 
ing to the hunters in chasing the Hon on horseback. The African 
colonists, who have been born in, or have had the courage to 
remove into the more remote parts of Africa, which are exposed to 
the ravages of wild beasts, are sometimes good marksman, and aw 
fax from wanting courage." 



74 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




WOOD CHUCK, OR AMERICAN MARMOT. 



CHAPTER XV. 



HUNTING THE MARMOT. 

ARMOTS are poor little inoffensive ani- 
mals, and hardly to be considered game. 
The species of marmot found in Switzer* 
land and Savoy, is carried about Eu- 
rope by the little street musicians who 
come from those countries. The species 
of marmot known in this country, is the 
wood chuck or ground hog, a favorite 
object of pursuit among school boys. 

They are caught in the common box trap, or dug out from theif 

burrows. 

Our authority, heretofore quoted, gives the following account of 

the way in which the Marmot is hunted in Switzerland. 




HUNTII^G THE MARMOT. 1 5 

Hunting the Marmot is neither dangerous nor laborious, noi 
fatal to any one but to the poor animals that are the objects of it. 
The marmots inhabit the high mountains, where m summer they 
scoop out holes, which they line with hay, and retire to at the 
beginning of autumn : here they grow torpid with the cold, and 
remain m a sort of lethargy, till the warmth of the spring return 
to quicken their languid blood, and to recall them to hfe. When 
it is supposed that they have retired to their winter abode, and 
before the snow has covered the high pastures where their holes 
are made, people go to unharbor them. They are found from 
ten to twelve in the same hole, heaped upon one another, and 
buried in the hay. Their sleep is so profound, that the hunter 
often puts them into his bag, and carries them home without their 
awaking. The flesh of the young is good, though it tastes of oil, 
and smells somewhat of musk ; the fat is used in the cure of 
rheumatisms and pains, being rubbed on the parts aifected ; but 
the skin is of little value, and is sold for no more than five or six 
Bols. Notwithstanding the httle benefit they reap from it, the people 
of Chamouni go in quest of this animal with great eagerness, and 
Its numbers accordingl}'- diminish very sensibly. 




SWISS BOT WITH HIS MARMOT. 



HUNTING ADVENTURES, 




CHAPTER XVI. 



HUNTING THE VIRGINIAN DEER. 

ACH of the American varieties cf 
the deer will fall under our notice 
in the progress of the work. At 
present, before taking leave of the 
old writer to whom we are already 
so much indebted, we will quote 
his remarks on the hunting of the 
common Virginian deer, the ani- 
mal whose flesh is the venison so 
abundant in our markets. 
These animals are of the utmost importance to the American 
Indians. Their skins form the greatest branch of their traffic, by 
w^hich they procure from the whites in exchange, many of the 




HUNTING THE VIRGINIAN DEEU. 7? 



necessaries of life. To all of them the flesh is the principal food 
throughout the year ; for drying it over a gentle but clear fire, after 
cutting it into small pieces, it is not only capable of long preserva- 
tion, but is very portable in their excursions, especially when 
reduced to powder, which is frequently done. Hunting is more 
than an amusement to these people. They use it not only for the 
sake of subsistence, but to fit themselves for war, by habituating 
them to fatigue. A good huntsman is an able warrior. Those 
who fail in the sports of the field are never supposed to be capable 
of supporting the hardships of a campaign ; they are degraded to 
Ignoble offices, such as dressing the skins of deer, and other employ- 
ments allotted only to women and slaves. 

When a large party meditates a hunting match, which is usually 
at the beginning of winter, they agree on a place of rendezvou-s, 
often five hundred miles distant from their homes, and where per- 
haps many of them had never been. When this matter is settled, 
they separate into small parties, travel and hunt for subsistence aU 
day, and rest at night. The Indians have their particular hunting 
countries; but if they invade the limits of those belonging to other 
nations, the most deadly feuds ensue. As soon as they arrive on 
the borders of the hunting country, the captain of the band delineates 
on the bark of a tree his own figure, with a rattlesnake twined rouiid 
b»m with distended mouth ; and in his hand a bloody tomahawk, 




By this he impfies a destructive menace to any who shall ii vada 
their territories, or interrupt their diversion. — The chase is carried 
on in different ways. Some surprise the deer by using the stale 



78 



HI3NTING ADVENTURES. 



»f the head, homs, and hide ; but the general method is performed 
oy the whoie body. Several hundreds disperse in a line, encom- 
passing a vast space of country, fire the woods, and drive the 
animals into some strait or peninsula, where they become an easy 
prey ; and where foxes, racoons, bears, &c., are also objects of atten* 
tion, whose furs form articles oPcommerce with the Europeans. 

The Indians had a stratagem for taking deer by disguising 
themselves in the skin of the animal, and the old histories inform 
us that when Maryland was settled by Lord Baltimore's colony, 
the Indians instructed the colonists in the use of this stratagem. 




»HE INDIANS IKSTRUCTINO THB COLONISTS OF KABTLAND IN 
DEER HUNTINQ. 




UIDIAN RHINOCEROS. 



HUNTING THE INDIAN RHINOCEROS. 



81 



CHAPTER XVII. 




HUNTING THE INDIAN RHINOCERCS. 

HE old name of this the first rhinoceros 
known to naturalists, was UnicornuSf 
or one-horned ; but the discovery ol 
another with only one horn, and yet 
with specific diflferences sufficiently 
marked, rendered this n\me no longei 
descriptive as a specific one. This 
powerful animal is not distributed ovei 
the breadth of continental Inaia, but 
confined to the marshy jungles in the lower valleys of the greal 
rivers, especially the Granges, and its effluent the Burhampootra 
The country there has a peculiar character among even Indian 
countries. The rains come with both monsoons, the north-east as 
well as the south-west, and they come in very great quantity ; so 
that, for the greater part of the year everywhere, and the whole 
of it in many places, the country is a swamp ; a swamp which 
remains under the shade of that most luxuriant vegetation which 
it produces, despite the great heat of the sun. This is the grand 
residence of the rhinoceros ; and it points out what must have 
been the character of vegetation in those places from which the 
rhinoceros has vanished, when that animal was alive in them. 

The characters of this one are : — a single horn on the nose ; th^ 
skin is marked with deep furrows or plaits behind the shouldeis 
and the thighs ; and there are also deep folds under the throat. 
The skin is indeed folded and furrowed in many places, as if it 
were too large for the owner. The hairs on the skin are hard 
and smooth ; but they are so few, as scarcely to make any appear- 
ance, excepting a few on the tail and the margins of the ears. 
The head is short and triangular ; but the nasal bones are well 
developed, and form a strong vault, on the summit of which the 
base of the horn rests. The eyes are very small ; and there are 
two strong incisive teeth in each jaw. When in nealth, the skin 
«f the animal is blackish grey with a slight tinge of violet When 



82 HUNTl^a ADVENTURES. 



full grown, it attains the length of eight or nine feet ; but it does 
not stand much more than half the height of the elephant. It ia 
a strong and powerful animal a .d easily excited, in which state it 
is equally bold and perseveri g in its attacks. What the natural 
enemies of the rhinoceros may be, it is not easy to say ; though 
its proneness to make the attack, which has no reference whatever 
to the finding of its food, would lead us to suppose that this pugna- 
cious instinct has not been given to it in vain. 

In consequence of its boldness and strength, the hunting of the 
rhinoceros is one of the most splendid and hazardous of the wild 
sports of the East. I is to be sought for in the jungles, and is 
often found in parties of about half a dozen, led on by the biggest 
cf the whole, as is the case with the herds of elephants. In tht 
tall vegetation of the Indian jungle, the sportsmen cannot hunt for 
this animal unless they are mounted on elephants ; and they find 
it necessary to go in bands, so that while some of the elephants 
are receiving the charge of the rhinoceros, the others may take 
aira and wound them. A single one is said, in the first instance, 
to seek safety in a retreat into a closer part of the jungle ; but, if 
again roused, it advances to the attack. Its object appears to be 
to get at the elephant on the side ; and passing the horn in beW 
it, to wound it in the belly, or fairly rip it open. The elephant is 
also said not to attempt using the tusks, which would not, of 
course, be able to toss so weighty an animal. What may be 
done in a state of nature we have no means of knowing, for no- 
body has recorded, and probably nobody ever saw a battle between 
a rhmoceros and an elephant in wild nature, nor probably between 
a rhinoceros and any other creature. But in cases of hunting 
the elephant does not appear to have any means of warding otf 
the attack ; but wheels round, and receives it on the hinder nart 
of the body, on which the horn has not much efl^ect in the W9 ; of 
laceration ; but the impetus of the animal is such, that it lurls 
the elephant to *he earth ; and this it will continue to dr. agcin 
and again for some time. It is not unhkely that me eiepnant, :i 
free in wild nature, would continue to receive these attacks till 
its opponent were exhausted. 



HUNTING THE BISON. 



8S 




EUROPEAN BISON ASSAILED BY WOLV 



CHAPTER XVIIL 



HUNTING THE BISON. 




E must be can ful 
to distinguish be- 
tween the two speciea 
of Bison, the European 
species, and the Ameri 
can. Speaking of the 
former, a late writer 



Cuvier considers it as 
certain that this animal. 
the largest, or at least the most massive of all e!!tisting quadru* 
pe<'s after the rhinoceros, an animal still to be found in some of 



54 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



the Tiithuanian forests, and perhaps in those of Moldavia, Wal- 
lachia, and the neighborhood of' the Caucasus, is a distinct species 
which man has never subdued ; nor do we think that any one 
who takes the trouble to consider the evidence on which Cuvier*3 
conclusion was founded will be of a different opinion. Following 
out this subject with his usual industry and ability, that great 
naturalist goes on to state (^Ossemens Fossiles) that if Europe 
possessed a UruSy a Thur of the Poles, different from the Bison 
or the Aurochi of the Germans, it is only in its remains that the 
species can be traced ; such remains are found, in the skulls of a 
species of ox different from the aurochs, in the superficial beds of 
certain districts. This Cuvier thinks must be the true Urus of 
the ancients, the original of our domestic ox, the stock perhaps 
whence our wild cattle descended ; while the aurochs of the pre- 
sent day is nothing more than the Bison or Bonasus of the 
indents, a species which has never been brought under the yoke. 

This ancient species is fast following its extinct congener, the 
Vtus. Pallas observes, that it is remarkable that the aurochs 
does not exist in any of the vast forests of Russia and Northern 
Asia, whence (if it had penetrated therein) hardly any thing could 
have eradicated it. As late as the reign of Charlemagne it was 
not rare in Germany, but the range of the species is now nearly 
confined to the mountainous country between the Caspian and 
Black Seas. 

The American Bison has many points of similarity with the 
Aurochs. In both we have the huge head, and the lengthened 
pinous processes of the dorsal vertebrae for the attachment of the 
brawny muscles that support and wield it. In both we have the 
conical hump between the shoulders in consequence, and the 
shaggy mane in all seasons ; and each presents a model of brute 
fjrce, formed to push and throw down. 

Before we describe the habits of the American bison, the modes 
of hunting it, and the uses to which the several parts of the anima. 
are put, it may be well to give some idea of the vast wildernessej 
Wh^re it roams in unrestrained freedom. We know not how to 
convey this idea better than in the words of Washington Irving 



HUNTING THE BISON. 85 




AMERICAN BISON. 

who possesses the magic art of converting the reader into a spectatoi 
of the scene described. In his Tour on the Prairies^ the follow 
ing panoramic views are presented to us ; — 

** After a toilsome march of some distance through a country cut 
up by ravmes and brooks, and entangled by thickets, we emerged 
upon a grand prairie. Here one of the characteristic scenes of 
the ' far west' broke upon us, — an immense extent of grassy, 
undulating, or, as it is termed, < rolling* country, with here and 
there a clump of trees dimly seen in the distance like a ship at sea, 
the landscape deriving sublimity from its vastness and simplicity. 
To the south-west, on the summit of a hill, was a singular crest of 
broken rocks, resembling a ruined fortress. It reminded me of the 
ruin of some Moorish castle crowning a height in the midst of a 
lonely Spanish landscape. To this hill we gave the name of Ciff 
Castle. 

*'The prairies of these great hunting regions differed, in the 
character of their vegetation, from those through which I had 
hitnerto passed. Instead of a profusion of tall, flowering plants, 
and long flaunting grasses, they were covered with a shorter growth 



gg HUNTING ADVENTURES. 

of herbage called buffalo-grass, somewhat coarse, but, at the propel 
season, affording excellent and abundant pasturage. At pn sent it 
was growing wiry, and in many places it was too much parched 
foi grazing. 

<< The weather was vergmg into that serene but somewhat and 
season called the Indian summer. There was a smoky haze in 
the atmosphere that tempered the brightness of the sunshine into a 
golden tint, softening the features of the landscape, and giving a 
vagueness to the outlines of distant objects. This hazmess was 
daify increasing, and was attributed to the burning of the distant 
prairies by the Indian hunting parties. We had not gone far upon 
the prairie before we came to where deeply-worn footpaths were 
Been traversing the country. Sometimes two or three would keep 
parallel to each other, and but a few paces apart. These were 
pronounced to be traces of buffaloes, where large droves had 
passed."— p. 153. 

Turn we now to a more refreshing scene : — ''About ten o'clock 
in the morning we came to where this Hne of rugged hills swept 
down into a valley, through which flowed the north fork of the Red 
River. A beautiful meadow, about half a mile wide, enamelled 
with yellow autumnal flowers, stretched for two or three miles along 
the foot of the hills, bordered on the opposite side by the river, 
whose banks were fringed with cotton-wood trees, the bright foliage 
of which reiresned and delighted the eye, after being wearied by 
the contemplation of monotonous wastes of brown forest. 

<' The meadow was finely diversified by groves and clumps of 
trees, so happily disposed that they seemed as if set out- by the 
hand of art. As we cast our eyes over this fresh and delightful 
valley, we beheld a troop of wild horses quietly grazing on a green 
lawn about a mile distant to our right, while to our left, at nearly 
the same distance, were several buffaloes, some feeding, others re 
posing and ruminating among the high rich herbage, under the 
shade of a clump of cotton-wood trees. The whole had the appear 
ance of a broi.d, beautiful tract of pasture- land, on the highly orna- 
mented estate of some gentleman-farmer, with his cattle grazing 
about the lawns and meadows." — p. 220. 



HUNTING THE BISON. 87 

The American male bison, when at its full size, is said to weigh 
2000 lbs., though 12 or 14 cwt, is considered a good weight in the 
fur countries. Dr. Richardson gives eight feet and a half as its 
length, exclusive of the tail, which is twenty inches, and upwards 
of six feet as its height at the fore-quarters. The head is very 
large, and carried low ; the eyes are small, black, and piercing , 
the horns are short, small, sharp, set far apart, for the forehead is 
very broad, and directed outwards and backwards, so as to be nearly 
erect, with a slight curve towards the outward pointing tips. Tho 
hump is not a mere lump of fatty secretion, like that of the zebu, 
but consists exclusive of a deposite of fat, which varies much in 
quantity, of the strong muscles attached to the highiy-developed 
spinous processes of the last cervical and first dorsal vertebrae, 
forming fit machinery for the support and movement of the enormous 
head. The chest is broad, and the legs are strong ; the hind parts 
are narrow, and have a comparatively weak appearance. The 
tail is clothed with short fur-like hair, with a long, straight, coarse, 
blackish-brown tuft at the end. In winter the whole body is 
covered with long shagged hair, which in summer falls off, leaving 
the blackish wrinkled skin exposed, except on the forehead, hump, 
fore-quarters, under-jaw, and throat, where the hair is very long 
and shaggy, and mixed with much wool Catesby observes that 
on the forehead of a bull the hair is a foot long, thick and frizzled, 
and of a dusky black color, that the length of this hair, hanging 
over their eyes, impedes their flight, and is frequently the cause 
of their destruction, but this obstruction of sight is in some measure 
supphed by their good noses, which are no small safeguard to them. 
A bull, says he, in summer, with his body bare and his head 
muffled with long hair, makes a very formidable appearance. In 
summer, the general color of the hair is between dark-umber and 
liver-brown, and lustrous. The tips of the hair, as it lengthens in 
winter, are paler, and before it is shed in summer much of it be- 
comes of a pale, dull, yellowish-brown. In the female the head 
is smaller, and the hair on the foreparts is not so long as i is in the 
male. 
Congregating in vast herds, these animals are said to cover Uie 



88 



HUNTING ABVENTURES. 




CAPTAIN LEWIS THE TRAVELLER. 



wide- extended savannahs of the more southern districts of the north 
for miles in extent. '* Such was the muhitude," say Lewis and 
Clarke, speaking of an assemblage of bisons as they crossed the 
water, " that although the river, including an island over wkich 
they passed, was a mile in length, the herd stretched, as thick as 
they could swim, completely from one side to the other." The 
same travellers, speaking of another of these grand spectacles, 
say, — " If it be not impossible to calculate the moving multitude 
which darkened the whole plains, we are convinced that 20,000 
would be no exaggerated number." Catesby, after stating that 
they range in droves, feeding on the open savannahs morning and 
«?vening, says that in the sultry time of the day they retire to shady 
Tivulets and streams of clear water gliding through thickets of tali 



HUNTING THE BISON. 89 

canes. Dr. James had an opportunity of observing them on such 
occasions, and he thus describes their march : — <' In the middle of 
the day countless thousands of them were seen coming in from 
every quarter to the stagnant pools ;" and in another place he says, 
that their paths are as frequent, and almost as conspicuous as the 
roads in the most populous parts of the United States. 

The bisons, in truth, are a wandering race, the motives of their 
restlessness being, either disturbance by hunters or change of pas- 
ture. After the fire has cleared the prairie of all the old herbage, 
the delicately tender grass which springs up in the r'^om of the old 
wiry bents that fed the flame, offers the most grateful food to the 
migratory bisons ; such spots are well-known to the hunter as points 
of attraction to these animals. In the winter, when the snow hes deep 
over the vegetation, they scrape it away with their feet to get at 
the grass. 

Fierce and terrible are the fights among the bulls in the rutting 
season, and perilous is the condition of the man who then approaches 
them. For the greatest part of the year the bulls and cows live in 
separate herds ; but at all seasons, according to Dr. Richardson, 
one or two old bulls generally accompany a large herd of cows. 

These powerful beasts are in general shy, and fly from the face 
of man till they are wounded ; they then become furious, and 
pursue their enemy with the most vindictive spirit, as we shall 
presently see ; but we must first say a word or two on some of the 
different modes of hunting them. Du Pratz and Charlevoix give 
several particulars of the chase of these animals by the Indians. li 
the rifle be used the hunter is careful to go against the wind, for 
the sense of smelling is so exquisite in the bison that it will other- 
wise get scent of him and precipitately retire. If he gets within 
rifle-distance, he is careful so to take his aim that the beast may 
drop at once, and not be irritated by an ineffectual wound. 

But the great hunting is, or rather was, somewhat after the 
manner of the Scottish *< tinchel.'* A great number of men divide 
and form a vast square. Each band sets fire to the dry grass of 
the savannah where the herds are €''*^ding. When the affrighted 



90 HUi7TINa ADVENTURES. 



beasts perceive the fire approaching on all sides, they retire in con- 
fusion to the centre of the square, where the bands close upon them, 
and kill them as they are huddled together in heaps without 
hazard ; 1500 or 2000 beeves have been given as the produce of 
such an expedition. 

Captain (now Sir John) Franklin gives us the following infoi- 
mation. After stating that the Stone Indians are so expert with 
the bow and arrow that they can strike a very small object at a 
considerable distance, and shoot with sufficient force to pierce 
through the body of a bufl^alo when near, he thus describes a buffalo 
or bison pound : — 

^^The buffalo pound was a fenced circular space, of about a hun- 
dred yards in diameter; the entrance was banked up with snow, 
to a sufficient height to prevent the retreat of the animals that once 
have entered. For about a mile on each side of the road leading 
to the pound, stakes were driven into the ground at nearly equal 
distances of about twenty yards ; these were intended to represent 
men, and to deter the animals from attempting to break out on 
either side. Within fifty or sixty yards from the pound, branches 
of trees were placed between these stakes to screen the Indians, 
who lie down behmd them to await the approach of the buffalo. 
The prmcipal dexterity in this species of chase is shown by the 
horsemen, who have to manoeuvre round the herd in the plains so 
as to ursfe them to enter the roadway, which is about a quarter of 
a mile broad. When this has been accomplished, they raise loud 
shouts, and, pressing close upon the animals, so terrify them tha 
they rush heedlessly forwards towards the snare. When they 
have advanced as far as the men who are lying in ambush, they 
also rise, and increase the consternation by violent shouting and 
firing guns. The affrighted beasts having no alternative, run 
directly to the pound, where they are quickly despatched, eithei 
with an arrow or gun. There was a tree in the centre of the 
pound, on which the Indians had hung strips of buffalo flesh, and 
pieces of cloth, as tributary or grateful offerings to the Great Master 
ji life ; and we were told that they occasionally place a man in thfl 



I 



HUNTING THE BISON. 93 



tree to sing to the presiding Spirit as the buffaloes ar*» advancing, 
wrho must keep his station until the whole that have entered are 
Rilled." 

The same author further proceeds as follows ; — " Other modes 
of killing the buffalo are practised by the Indians with success ; 
of these, the hunting them on horseback requires most dexterity. 
An expert hunter, when well mounted, dashes at the herd, and 
chooses an individual which he endeavors to separate from the rest. 
If he succeeds, he contrives to keep him apart by the proper man- 
agement of his horse, though going at full speed. Whenever he 
can get sufficiently near for a ball to penetrate the beast's hide he 
fires, and seldom fails of bringing the animal down ; though, of 
course, he cannot rest the piece against the shoulder, nor take a 
deliberate aim. On this service the hunter is often exposed to 
COTisiderable danger from the fall of his horse in the numerous 
holes which the badgers make in these plains, and also from the 
rage of the bufl'alo, which, when closely pressed, often turns sud 
denly, and, rushing furiously on the horse, frequently succeeds in 
wounding it, or dismounting the rider. Whenever the animal 
shows this disposition, which the experienced hunter will readily 
perceive, he immediately pulls up his horse and goes off' in another 
direction." The reader will find some animated descriptions of 
such encounters in " The Tour on the Prairies," before alluded to. 

'<■ When the bufl^aloes are on their guard," as Captain Franklin 
observes, '^ horses cannot be used in approaching them ; but the 
hunter dismounts at some distance and crawls in the snow towards 
the herd, pushing his gun before him. If the buffalo**s happen 
to look towards him he stops, and keeps quite motionless, until 
their eyes are turned in another direction ; by this cautious pro- 
ceeding a skilful person will get so near as to be able to kill two 
or three out of the herd. It will easily be imagine J this service 
cannot be very agreeable when the thermometer stands 30° or 40° 
below zero, as sometimes happens in this country." 

This chase of the bison is not unattended with danger, *« for," 
says Catesby, "when woundfed they are very furious, which 



94 Hl^NTING ADVENTURES. 



cautions the Indians how they attack them in Of en savannahs 
where no trees are to screen them from their fury. Their hoofs 
more than their horns, are their offensive weapons, and whatever 
opposes them is in no small danger of being trampled into the 
earth." 

Dr. Richardson, in his ^< Fauna Borealis Americana^'' observes 
that the bisons are less wary when they are assembled together in 
numbers, and that they will then often blindly follow their leaders, 
regardless of, or trampling down, the hunters posted in their way.' 
He further states that, though the gait of these animals may 
appear heavy and awkward, they will have no great difficulty in 
overtaking the fleetest runn<'r, and gives the following account of 
che determined violence with which a wounded bison assails its 
enemy : " While I resided at Carlton house," writes Dr. Richard- 
son, "an accident of this kind occurred. Mr. Finnan M'Donald, 
one of the Hudson's Bay Company's clerks, was descending the 
Saskatchewan in a boat, and one evening, havmg pitched his tent 
for the night, he went out in the dusk to look for game. It had 
become nearly dark when he* fired at a bison-bull, which was 
galloping over a small eminence, and as he was hastening forward 
to see if his shot had taken effect, the wounded beast made a rush 
at him. He had the presence of mind to seize the animal by the 
long hair on its forehead as it struck him on the side with its 
horn, and, being a remarkably tall and powerful man, a struggle 
ensued, which continued until his wrist was severely sprained, 
and his arm was rendered powerless ; he then fell, and after 
receiving two or three blows became senseless. Shortly after- 
wards he was found by his companions lying bathed in blood, being 
gored in several places, and the bison was couched beside him, 
apparently waiting to renew the attack, had he shown any signs 
of life. Mr. M' Donald recovered from the immediate effects of 
the injuries he received, but died a few months afterwards. 
Many other instances might be mentioned of the tenaciousness with 
which this animal pursues its revenge ; and I have been told of a 
hunter having been detained for many hours in a tree by an old 




m 



TMTi 



'ill 



' pi'ti! 



la l(liiii|»iiiii{i;i] 



HUNTINQ THE BISON. f^ 



ih, which had taken its post below to watch him. When i 
contends with a dog, it strikes violently with its fore feet, and in 
that way proves more than a match for an English bull-dog." 

The same writer says, that the favorite Indian method of killing 
the bison is by riding up to the fattest of the herd on horseback, 
and shooting it with an arrow ; and he speaks of the imposmg 
spectacle which is afforded when a large party of hunters are 
engaged in this way on an extensive plain, and of the skill and 
agility displayed by the young men on such occasions. The 
norses, it appears, seem to enjoy the sport as much as their riders, 
and are very active in eluding the shock of the animal, should it 
turn on its pursuer. It should be remembered, on such occasions, 
that, when the bison runs, it leans very much first to one side for 
a short time, and then to the other, and so on alternately. 

Dr. Richardson also confirms Captain Franklin in the asser- 
tion, that the most generally practised plan of shooting the bison 
18 by crawhng towards them from to leeward, and that in favorable 
places great numbers are taken in pounds. 

To facilitate their approach to the bisons, the Indians some- 
times clothe themselves with the skin of the white wolf, whicb 
the bison does not fear. 




»d 



HHNTING ADVENTURES. 




POLAR BEAR. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

HUNTING THE POLAR BEAR. 

HE Polar Bear is generally from 
six to eight feet long. The fur is 
long and white, with a tinge of 
yellow, which becomes darker 
as the animal advances in age ; 
the ears are small and round, 
and the head long. It inhabits 
Greenland and Lapland, and is 
^ found as far north as eighty de- 
grees. He walks heavily, and 
IS very clumsy in his motions ; his senses of hearing and seeing 
appear very dull, but his sriell is very acute ; and he does not appear 
destitute of some degree of understanding, or at least of cunning. 
Captain King, who visited the shores of the Arctic Ocetan in 1836, 
relates a curious instance of the cunning of this animal. <<On 
one occasion a Polar Bear was seen to swim cautiously to a large 
piece of ice, on which two female walruses were lying asleep with 
iheir cubs. The Bear crept up some hummocks behind them 
and with his fore feet loosened a large block of ice, which, with 
ibe help of his "J^"* and paws, he rolled pnd carried till Jt was 




HUNTING THE POLAR BEAR. 99 

immediately over the heads of the sleepers, wnen he let it fall on 
one of the old animals, which was instantly killed. The other 
walrus, with its cubs, rolled into the water, but the young one of 
the murdered female remained by its dam, anc on this helpless 
creature the Bear rushed, thus killing two animals at once." 

The ferocity of this kind of Bear is equal to its cunning- A 
few years since, the crew of a boat belonging to a ship in the 
whale-fishery, shot at a Bear at a short distance, and wounded it. 
The animal immediately set up the most dreadful yells, and ran 
along the ice towards the boat. Before it reached it, a second 
shot was fired, and hit it. This served to increase its fury. It 
presently swam to the boat ; and in attempting to get on board, 
reached its fore foot upon the gunnel : but one of the crew having 
a hatchet, cut it off. The animal still, however, continued to 
swim after them till they arrived at the ship ; and several shots 
were fired at it, which also took effect : but on reaching the ship, 
it immediately ascended the deck; and the crew having fled into 
the shrouds, it was pursuing them thither, when a shot from one 
of them laid it dead on the deck. 

From its great size and strength, the polar bear is, under all 
circumstances, a powerful animal ; but upon the ice it is pecu- 
liarly at home, and the danger of attacking him there is much 
greater than anywhere else. The following anecdote, recorded 
in his " Narrative of a Voyage to Greenland," by Scoresby, whose 
writings have thrown so much valuable light upon the economy 
of the Polar seas, will afford some idea of the co iduct of the beai 
on the ice. 

In the sammer of 1820, '< the ship, a Hull whaler, was moored 
to a piece of ice, on which, at a considerable distance, a large bear 
was observed prowling about for prey. One of the ship's com- 
pany, emboldened by an artificial courage, derived from the free 
use of rum, which, in his economy, he had stored for special 
occasions, undertook to pursue and attack the bear that was withia 
view. Armed only with a whale-lance, he, resolutely, and against 
a'] persuasion, set out on his adventurous exploit. A fatiguing 
journey of about half a league, over a yieldirg surface of snow 



100 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




THE SAILOR AND THE BEAR. 

tnd rugged hummocks, brought him within a few yards of the 
enemy, which, to his surprise, undauntedly faced him, and seemed 
to invite him to the combat. His courage being by this time 
greatly subdued, partly by evaporation of the stimulus, and partly 
by the undismayed, and even threatening aspect of the bear, he 
levelled his lance in an attitude suited either for offensive or de- 
fensive action, and stopped. The bear also stood still. In vain 
the adventurer tried to rally courage to make the attack ; his 
enemy was too formidable, and his attitude too imposing. In 
vain, also, he shouted, advanced his lance, and made feints of 
attack; the enemy, either not understanding, or despising such 
unmanliness, obstmately stood his ground. Already the limbs 
of the sailor began to quiver ; but the fear of ridicule from his 
messmates had its influence, and he yet scarcely dared to retreat. 
Bruin, however, possessing less reflection, or being regardless of 
consequences, began with audacious boldness to advance. His 
nigh approach, and unshaken step, subdued the last spark of 
bravery, and that dread of ridicule, which had hitherto upheld 
our adventurer: he turned and fled. But now was the time of 
danger. The flight of the sailor encouraged the bear, in turn, to 
pursue, and, being better practised in snow travelling, he rapidly 
gained upon the fugitive. The whale-lance, his only weapon of 
••lence, encumbering hi'n in his retreat, he threw it down, and 



HUNTING THE POLAR BEAR. 101 



kept on. This fortunately excited the bear's attention. H* 
stopped, pawed it, bit it, and then renewed the chase. Again 
he was at the heels of the panting seaman, who, conscious of the 
favorable effects of the lance, dropped one of his mittens. The 
stratagem succeeded ; and while bruin stopped to examine it, the 
fugitive, improving the interval, again made considerable progress 
ahead. Still the bear resumed the pursuit with a most provoking 
perseverance, except when arrested by another mitten ; and 
finally, by a hat, which he tore to shreds between his fore-teeth 
and paws, and would, no doubt, soon have made the incautious 
adventurer his victim, who was now rapidly losing strength, but 
for the prompt and well-timed assistance of his ship-mates, who, 
observing that the affair had assumed a dangerous aspect, sallied 
out to his rescue. The Httle phalanx opened him a passage, and 
then stood to receive his bold assailant. Though now beyond the 
reach of his adversary, the dismayed fugitive continued onwards, 
impelled by his fears, until he fairly reached the shelter of his 
ship. The bear once more came to a stand, and for a moment 
seemed to survey his enemies with all the consideration of an 
experienced general, when, finding them too numerous for a hope 
of success, he very wisely wheeled about, and succeeded in 
making a safe and honorable retreat." 

Whether the bear would, in this case, have fled from the sailor, 
if the latter had at once gone boldly in with his weapon, instead 
of pausing in fear and brandishing it, is not known ; and there are 
no doubt instances in which the bear does attack a man, though 
he grand object of attraction for him is carrion and offal. It is 
he flesh of the seal, the odour of which becomes very rank, 
which allures him to the huts of the northern people, just as it is 
the larder, and not the people which attracts the black bear of 
America to the habitations of the back settlers ; and the instances 
in which he attacks the people or their domestic animals are few, 
and confined to those times at which his proper food fails. 

From the nature of their food, the flesh of the polar bear is 
more rank and fishy, and less agreeable to the taste than that of 
ine land bears, though, with the exception of the liver, which has 



102 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



been found : be poisonous, all the parts of the animal are whoIe» 
some. The muscle is whitish, and soft and tender, considering 
the strength of the animal. The fat resembles tallow, and melta 
into a transparent oil, which has no ofTensive smell. The 
skin is very serviceable, as well as handsome, for a variety of 
domestic purposes ; and to the northern people it is an article of 
considerable value. The Greenlanders pull it off entire, and 
invert it Hke a sack, into which a person creeps and finds a warm 
and comfortable bed. The natives about Hudson's Bay dress it 
to a very pliable consistency. They stretch it on a patch af 
snow, and stake it down till it is stiffly frozen, then they scrape it 
till they see the roots of the hair ; after which they leave it some 
time to bleach and dry, and it soon becomes perfectly clean, beauti- 
t'uily Avhite, and very flexible. 

The domestic manners of these powerful animals are not much 
known. The pairing season is understood to be in July and 
August ; and such is the attachment of the pair, that if one is 
killed, the other remains fondling the dead body, and will suffer 
itself to be killed rather than leave it. The females retire to theii* 
hybernation about Christmas, sooner ^r laterj according to the 
season. These are often excavated in the snow, and the animals 
remain dormant in them till about the first of April, when they 
come abroad with their cubs, usually two in number, which are 
then about the size of rabbits. She is exceedingly attached to 
them, and nothing but death itself can put an end to her attentions. 
When they are mortally wounded, she will fondle them, turn them 
over, Hck them, offer them food, and pay even more tender attention 
than many human beings ; and when she finds that all her efforts 
are unavailing, she moans most piteously. 

The following is one of the many instances of this matemai 
affection : — 

" Early in the morning, the man at the mast head gave notice 
that t'lree bears were making their way very fast over the ice, 
and directing their course towards the ship. They had prolably 
been invited by the blubber of a sea-horse, which the men had 
tel on fire and which was burning on the ice at the time of theii 



HUNTING THE POLAB BEAR. 108 



api>'oach. They proved to be a she-bear and her two cubs ; 
but the cubs were nearly as large as the dam. They van eagerly 
*o the fire, and drew out from the flames part of the flesh of the 
pea-horse, which remained unconsumed, and ate it voraciously. 
The crew from the ship threw great pieces of the flesh, which 
ihey had still left, upon the ice, which the old bear carried away 
singly, laid every piece before her cubs, and dividing them, ga7e 
each a share, reserving but a small portion for herself. As she 
was carrying away the last piece, they levelled their muskets at 
the cubs, and sh .- them both dead ; and in her retreat, they 
wounded the dam, out not mortally. 

*^ It would have drawn tears of pity from any but unfeeling 
minds, to have marked the aflx3Ctionate concern manifested by this 
poor beast, in the last moments of her expiring young. Though 
she was sorely wounded, and could but just crawl to the place 
where they lay, she carried the lump of flesh she had fetched 
away, as she had done the others before, tore it in pieces, and 
laid it down before them ; and when she saw that they refused to 
eat, she laid her paws first upon one, and then upon the other, 
and endeavored to raise them up. All this while it was piteous 
to hear her moan. When she found she could not stir them, she 
went offj and when at some distance, looked back and moaned ; 
and that not avaihng to entice them away, she returned, and 
smelling around them, began to lick their wounds. She went 
oflT a second time as before ; and having crawled a few paces 
looked again behind her, and for some time stood moaning. But, 
still her cubs not rising to follow her, she returned to them again, 
and with signs of inexpressible fondness went round first one and 
then the other, pawing them, and moaning. Finding at last that 
they were cold and lifeless, she raised her head towards the ship, 
and growled her resentment at the murderers ; which they re- 
turned with a volley of musket balls. She fell between her 
cubs, and died licking their wounds," 

Many otner mstances might be quoted, illustrative of the 
cnaracter of these singular animals. — animals which are perhaps 
more characteristic of those dismal regions to which they are 



IM 



|:UNTINO ADVENTURES. 



confined, than ti 5 animals of almost any her rfe^ion. The? 
dwell, as it were, upon the very verge of the living world being 
found as far to the north as the restless foot of human discovery 
has penetrated ; and they are perhaps the only animals not de 
cidedly and habitually inhabitants of the sea, which are found in 
every longitude, and are in all longitudes exactly the same. We 
cannot say positively that they range across the pole of the earth's 
rotation, and pass from Asia to America, and from America to 
Asia by that route, because there is a zone round the pole of 
which we have no knowledge. But as the observations of the 
recent voyagers for discovery in the Arctic regions, corroborated 
by some other circumstances, lead us to conclude that the latitude 
of the magnetic pole (or poles) has the maxium of cold, and that 
the climate of the pole of rotation is not so severe, we may there- 
fore suppose, without any violent straining of theory, that, in the 
perpetual day which reigns there for a longer period than in the 
limits of their habitation southward, the polar bears range over 
the whole polar zone, till those confines where the sea is too clear 
of ice for their habits ; and that they are thus the only animali 
which have the command of all the meridians on the globe 




HUNTING THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR. 



105 




THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR. 



CHAPTER XX. 

HUNTING THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR. 

HE black bear is found throughout 
North America, from the 
shores of the Arctic Sea 
to its southern extremity. 
That they must have ex- 
isted in great numbers 
throughout this extent of 
country, before its settle- 
ment by Europeans, may 
be easily behoved, fron? 
the immense number of 
skins which can even now be procured of this animal. About 
thirty-six years ago, one hundred and ninety-two thousand four 
hundred and ninety-seven bear skins were exported from Gluebec ; 
in the year 1S22, the Hudson's Bay Company exported thrte 
thousand skins of the black bear. 

On the wooded portions of the rocky mountains. Captains Clark 
and Lewis saw black bears, and subsequently found them on the 
great plains of the Columbia, and in the tract of country lying 
between these plains and the Pacific Ocean. Occasionally they 




106 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



are found hroughout the territories of the United States, ii th« 
wooded ard mountainous regions, and in unsettled districts. Tneif 
skins are of great use to the inhabitants as a substitute for 
manufactured woollens, such as blankets, &c. 

Under ordinary circumstances the black bear is not remarkable 
foi its ferocity, nor is it in the habit of attacking man without 
being provoked. When wounded, he turns on his enemy with 
prodigious erergy and defends himself daringly. During the 
couprng season, this disposition is more fully shown, as the males 
are then more ex«ited, and are consequently less lazy and clumsy 
than the)^ are in the autumn. If this bear is taken when young 
it is easily domesticated, and taught many tricks ; he is frequently 
to be seen exhibited by showmen as a " learned" bear. 

In the northern part of the American continent, the subter- 
raneous retreats of the black bear may be easily discovered by 
the mist which uniformly hangs about the entrance of the den, 
as the animal's heat and breathing prevent the mouth of the cave 
from being entirely closed, however deep the snow may be. As 
the black bear usually retires to his winter quarters before any 
quantity of snow has fallen, and does not agam venture abroad till 
the end of March or the beginning of April, he therefore spends 
at least four months in a state of torpidity, and without obtaining 
food. It is therefore not very surprising, though the bear goes 
mto his winter quarters excessively fat, that he should come forth 
in the spring a melancholy picture of emaciation. 

The black bear is sometimes destroyed by blocking up the 
mouth of the cave with logs of wood, and then suddenly bseak- 
ing open the top of it, they kill the animal with a spear or gun ; 
*his method is, however, considered both cowardly and waiuon, a? 
the bear can neither escape nor offer the sHghtest injury lo his 
merciless destroyers. The northern Indians display greal in- 
genuity in the manner in which they throw the noose around the 
neck of this animal, but the barbarous way in which they 
despatch him with the hatchet or tomahawk, after having drawn 
him to the top of his hole, has Httle in it to admire. 

Sometimes he is caugh* in traps, strong steel cnes chained » 



HUNTING THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR. 109 




HUNTERS. 



t tree and laid m a path which has been partially stamad with 
blood, by drawing a newly killed carcass along it. At other times 
a noose, suspended from a strong bough, is substituted for the 
trap, in a path similarly prepared. The bear, whose sense of 
smell is exceedingly keen, alway follows upon the track along 
which a dead animal has been drawn, even although it has left 
no trace perceptible by the human senses. 

The common mode of hunting this bear is by two or three 
well-trained dogs. When he finds that he is pursued, he gene 
rally pushes forward for eight or ten miles, and sometimes more, 
in nearly a straight course. But when the dogs come up to him, 
he turns and strikes at them with his paws, the blows of which 
are so severe, that one of them taking effect, would instantly fell 
the strongest dog to the ground. The great art in training the 
dogs consists in teaching them to avoid these blows, and keep 
harassing the animal till he is exhausted. When that is the 
case, he climbs a tree to the height of twenty or thirty feet, at 
the root of which the dogs remain and *' give tongue " till the 
hunter makes his appearance. When the hunter appears, the 
bear drops to the ground, not for the purpose of attacking him, 
but of making a new effort at escape from the no v increased 
number of his pursuers. But, as he is heated by the effort of 
climbing and by the fall, though bears, from their form and alsG 
the nature of their covering, fall with much less injury than any 



JIO 



HUNTING ADVENTURES, 



Other animal of the same weight, he is much more an toyed by the 
doc^s than before. This makes him take to a tree again for refuge, 
he then dimbs as high as it will bear him, and endeavors to con- 
ceal himself among the thick foliage. The hunter now strikes 
against the trunk of the tree as if he were felling it, which soon 
puts the bear in motion. He makes his way to the extremity of 
a long and lofty branch, at which he draws himself partially into 
'Jie form of a ball, and drops down, often from such a height as 
»hat he rebounds up again for several feet, as if he were an 
elastic substance. He rises again from this fall, still uninjured, 
and seeks safety by flight as before. His exertions are, however 
so much greater than those of his pursuers, that, whatever may 
be his strength, they in time wear him out, and he is ultimately 
shot, either when standing up to give battle to the dogs, or when 
attempting to hide himself behind the trunk of a tree. Such is 
the mode of bear hunting where there are trees ; but in the large 
open prairies he runs much farther, and the hunt is one of 
greater ardor, unless when he is shot at an early stage ; but, if 
the marksman is not skilful, shooting is rather a dangeroui 
matter while the bear is unexhausted, as the pain arouses all his 
strength, and arms him with the most desperate powers of revenge 
so that he would be too much both for dogs and hunter. Tree 
ing a bear in a canoe, as represented in the opposite engraving 
»8 a rice operation ; but it is not an easy mode of capture. 




HUNTING THE LLAMA. 



iia 




'^'5iyVfwiSS^4^ 



LLAMA, 




CHAPTER XXI. 

HUNTING THE LLAMA. 

^r-^-^^-^vAPT. GEORGE SHELVOCRE, rui 

^11) Ar c^ Englishman, who sailed round the 

^J*^^ \ world in 1719-22, thus describes the 

tSC^-^ Hamas which ae saw at Arica in 



"For the carriage of the guana the people at 
Arica generally use that sort of nttle camels 
^, ., ^^^^^ ^he Indians of Peru tall ilamas ; the 

Chilese, chilihnegue; and the Spaniards, cameras de la tierra, or 
W..C ;e sneep. 1 he heads oi these animaJs are small m pieportion 



114 HUNTING ADVENTURM. 



to their bodies, and are somewhat in shape between the head oft 
horse and that of a sheep, the upper lip being cleft, Lke that of 
hare, through which they can spit to the distance of ten paces 
Rgainst any one who offends them ; and if the spittle happens to 
fall on the face of a person, it causes a red, itchy spot. Their 
necks are long and concavely bent downwards, like that of a camel, 
which animal they greatly resemble, except in having no bunch or 
their backs, and in being much smaller. Their ordinary height is 
from four feet to four and a half, and their ordinary burden does 
not exceed an hundred weight. They walk, holding up their 
heads, with wonderful gravity, and at so regular a pace, as no 
beating can quicken. At night it is impossible to make them move 
with their loads, for they He down till these are taken off, and then 
go to graze. Their ordinary food is a sort of grass, called yeho, 
somewhat like a small rush, but finer, and has a sharp point, with 
which all the mountains are covered exclusively. They eat little, 
and never drink, so that they are easily maintained. They have 
cloven feet, like sheep, and are used at the mines to carry ore to 
the mills ; and, as soon as loaded they set off without any guide to 
the place where they are usually unloaded. 

'^ They have a sort of spur above the foot, which renders them 
sure-footed among the rocks, as it serves as a sort of hook to hold 
by.* Their hair, or wool rather, is long, white, gray, and russet, 
in spots, and fine, but much inferior to that of the vicunna (vigonia,) 
and has a strong and disagreeable scent. 

" The vicunna is shaped much hke the llama, but much smaller 
and lighter, their wool being extraordinarily fine, and much valued. 
These animals are often hunted after the following manner : — Many 
Indians gather together, and drive them into some narrow pass 
across which they have previously extended cords about four feet 
from the ground, having bits of wool or cloth hanging la ^hem a> 
Bmall distances. This so frightens them that they dare not pass, 
and they gather together in a string, when the Indians kill them 
with sioiicb ueu to me tiUdsi ol leainer lUoago. ftnouiu nay guanacov 

• This i» lat»'^ou4. 



HUNTING THE LLAMA. 115 



happen to be among the flock, these leap over the cords, and a>« 
followed by all the vicunnas. These guanacos are larger and more 
corpulent, and are also called viscachas. 

♦< There is yet another animal of this kind called alpagnes (alpa- 
cas,) having wool of extraordinary fineness; buu their legs are 
shorter, and their snouts contracted in such a manner, as to give 
them some resemblance to the human countenance. 

^<The Indians make several uses of these creatures; some of 
which carry burdens of about an hundred weight. Their woo? 
serves to make stuffs, cords, and sacks ; their bones are used fo» 
the construction of weaver's utensils ; and their dung is employee 
as fuel for dressing meat and warming their huts."* 

The mode of kiUing the vigonias, described by Shelvocke, pre 
vails in Chih* and Peru at the present day. It is affirmed that 
eighty thousand are thus killed every year solely for their wool, 
and that the species does not appear to diminish,! Gregoire de 
Bolivar says, that in his time the llamas were so numerous, that 
four millions were killed every year for their flesh, and that three 
hundred thousand were employed at the mines of Potosi. The 
extraordinary multiplication of animal life in South America is 
familiar to every reader : the pampas are covered with troops of 
wild horses, and the oxen are slaughtered by hundreds for their 
skins alone. In the Memoirs of General Miller, an Englishman in 
the service of the repubhc of Peru, it is stated, that wood waa 
formerly so scarce and cattle so plentiful, that sheep were driven 
into the furnaces of limekilns, in order to answer the purposes of 
fuel ; and that a decree of the king of Spain, prohibiting this barba- 
rous custom, is still preserved in the archives of Buenos Ayres. 

This extraordinary abundance of animal food, and the equal 
fertility of many districts, where the finest fruits grow spontaneously, 
and only require the trouble of being gathered, has had a markea 
effect in retarding the improvement of the natives of South America 
They are neither a pastoral nor an agricultural people ; and thus 
iurrounded by partial civilization, they remain without any excite 

• Kew'i Collection of Voyages vol. x. p. 462. t ^'^^^- ClassiQa^ 



116 HUNTING ADVENT! RES. 



ment to labor, which alone could improve their mora, and physical 
condiiion. Humboiat Jtias beautifully described the state of primitive 
rudeness in which many of the tribes of South America remain- 
partly from their geographical position, and partly from the spon- 
taneous bounty of their climate : — 

<< When we attentively examine this wild part of America, we 
appear to be carried back to the first ages, when the earth was 
peopled step by step — we seem to assist at the birth of human 
societies. In the Old World, we behold the pastoral Hfe prepare 
a people of huntsmen for the agricultural life. In the New World, 
we look in vain for these progressive developments of civilization — 
these moments of repose — these resting-places in the life of a people 
The luxury of vegetation embarrasses the Indian in the chase. As 
the rivers are like arms of the sea, the depth of the water for many 
months prevents their fishing. Those species of ruminating animals 
which constitute the riches of the people of the Old World, are 
wanting in the New. The bison and the musk-ox have not ye^ 
been reduced to the domestic state ; the enormous multiplicatiof 
of the llama and the guanaco has not produced in the natives .hi 
habits of the pastoral life." 




HUNTING THE REIN-DEER. 



in 




THE REIN-DEER. 

CHxiPTER XXII. 

HUNTING THE REIN-DEB3fei 



HE REIN DEER is found in «io«pt 
of the northern regions of Europe, 
Asia, and America. Its general 
height is about four feet and a half 
The color is brown above and white 
beneath ; but as the animal advances 
in age it often becomes of a grayish 
white. The hoofs are long, large, 
and black. Both sexes are furnished 
with horns, but those of the male are 
much the largest. To the Laplanders this animal is the substitute 
for the horse, the cow, the goat, and the sheep ; and is their only 
wealth. The milk affords them cheese ; the flesh food ; the skin, 
clothing ; of the tendons they make bow-strings, and when split, 
thread ; of the horns, glue ; and of the bones, spoons. During the 
winter, the Rein-deer supplies the want of a horse, and draws 
sledges with amazing swiftness over the frozen lakes and rivers, or 
over the snow, which at that time covers the whole country. 




In^ 



118 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



numerable are the uses, the comforts, and advantages which the 
poor inhabitants of this dreary climate derive from this animal 
We cannot sum them up better than in the beautiful language of 
the poet: — 

Their Rein-deer form their riches. These their tents, 
Their robes, their beds, and all their homely wealth 
Supply, their wholesome fare, and cheerful cups : 
Obsequious at their call, the docile tribe 
Yield to the sled their necks, and whirl them swift 
O'er hill and dale, heaped into one expanse 
Of marbled snow, as far as eye can sweep, 
\^itli a blue crust of ice unbounded glazed. 

The mode of Kunting the wild rein-deer by the Laplanders, the 
Esquimaux, and the Indians of North America, have been accurately 
described by various travellers. We select the following accounts 
from the interesting narratives of Captain Lyon and Captain Frank- 
lin. Captain Lyon says : — 

<<The rein-deer visits the polar regions at the latter end of May 
or the early part of June, and remains until late in September, On 
his first arrival he is thin, and his flesh is tasteless, but the short 
summer is sufficient to fatten him to two or three inches on the 
haunches. When feeding on the level ground, an Esquimaux 
makes no attempt to approach him, but should a few rocks be near, 
the wary hunter feels secure of his prey. Behind one of these he 
cautiously creeps, and having laid himself very close, with his 
bow and arrow before him, he imitates the bellow of the deer when 
calling to each other. Sometimes, for more complete deception, 
the hunter wears his deer-skin coat and hood so drawn over his 
head as to resemble, in a great measure, the unsuspecting animaJ 
he is enticing. Though the bellow proves a considerable attrac- 
tion, yet if a man has great patience he may do without it, and 
mjiy be equally certain that his prey will ultimately come tc ex- 
amine him ; the rein-deer being an inquisitive animal, and at the 
Bame time so silly, that if he sees any suspicious object which is 
not actually chasing him, he will gradually, and after many caper* 
ings, and forming repeated circles, approach nearer and nearer it 
it. The Esquimaux rarely shoot until the creature is within twelve 
paces, and I have frequently been told of their l>eing killed at a 



HUNTING THE REIN-DEER. 119 

much shnrter distance. It is to be observed that the hunters neve? 
appear openly, but employ stratagem for their purpose ; thus, by 
patience and ingenuity, rendering their rudely-formed bows, and 
still worse arrows, as effective as the rifles of Europeans. When 
two men hunt in company, they sometimes purposely show them- 
selves to the deer, and when his attention is fully engaged, wait 
slowly away from him, one before the other. The deer follows, 
and when the hunters arrive near a stone, the foremost drops behind 
it and prepares his bov/, while his companion continues walking 
steadily forward. This. latter, the de&r ytill follows unsuspectingly 
and thus passes near the concealed man who takes a deliberate 
aim and kills the animal. When the deer assemble in herds, 
there are particular passes which they invariably take, and on 
being driven to them are killed by arrows by the men, while the 
women with shouts drive them to the water. Here they swim 
with the ease and activity of water-dogs, the people in kayaks 
chasmg and easily spear mg them ; the carcasses float, and the 
hunter then presses forward and kills as many as he finds in his 
track. No springs or traps are used in the capture of these animals, 
as is practised to the southward, in consequence of the total absence 
of standing wood."* 

Captain Franklin describes the mode in which the Dog-rib 
Indians kill the rein-deer, which he had from Mr. Wentzel. 

" The hunters go in pairs, the foremost man carrying in one 
hand the horns and part of the skin of the head of a deer, and in 
the other a small bundle of twigs, against which he, from time ta 
time, rubs the horns, imitating the gestures pecuhar to the animal 
His comrade follows, treading exactly in his footsteps, and holding 
the guns of both in a horizontal position, so that the muzzles project 
under the arms of him who carries the head. Both hunters have 
A fillet of white skin round their foreheads, and the foremost has a 
itrip of the same round his wrists. They approach the herd by 
degrees, raising their legs very slowly, but setting them down some- 
what suddenly, after the manner of a deer, and always takmg 
care to lift their right or left feet simultaneously. If any of the 

* Private JoumaL 



120 HUlTTINa ADVENTITRES. 



herd leave off feeding \o gaze upon this extraordinary phenomenon, 
It instantly stops, and the head begins to play its part b} licking 
Its shoulders, and performing other necessary movements. In this 
way the hunters attain the very centre of the herd without exciting 
suspicion, and have leisure to single out the fattest. The hindmost 
man then pushes forward his comrade's gun, the head is dropped, 
and they both fire nearly at the same instant. The deer scamper 
off, the hunters trot after them ; in a short time the poor animals 
halt to ascertain the cause of their terror ; their foes stop at the 
same moment, and having loaded as they ran, greet the gazers 
with a second fatal discharge. The consternation of the deer in- 
crsa'ocs; and sometimes a great part of the herd is destroyed 
within the space of a few hundred yards." 

In a country which affords such an uncertain supply of food, 
and whose climate is so severe, through a great part of the year, as 
Lapland, the progress of civilization can never be very considerable. 
The people must of necessity lead a wandering life, unitmg the 
hunting and the pastoral character ; but incapable, from physical 
causes, of pursuing the arts of agriculture, or entering largely intc 
the communications of commerce. But what civilization exists, or 
may exist amongst them, is wholly to be ascribed to their best 
possession — the rein-deer. It is not, therefore, incompatible with 
the great arrangements by which the universe has been created, 
and is supported, to believe that the rein-deer has been specially 
bestowed upon the inhabitant') of the polar regions, as an improve- 
ment of their necessary lot, in the same way that the locality of 
the camel has been fixed in the sandy and stony deserts of Asia 
and Africa. The poor Laplander knows the value of the faithfu* 
creature which aflfbrds him food, clothing, and the means of trana 
port ; and he offers his homage of thanksgiving to the Great Author 
of nature, who has given him this companion of his wanderings. 
Whether the native of the polar regions hunt the wild deer amidsi 

the icy mountains, be hurried by his aid across the frozen wastes,— 

or wander with his family and his herds, till the long winter begins, 
almost without any gradation, to succeed the short summer, — the livea 
^f the Laplarder ard of ihf -ein-deer are inseparably united. 




ME. OEOROB CiTLUr 



A BISON HUNT. 




CHAPTER XXIII. 




A BISON HUNT OF MR. CATLIN AND M. CHARDON. 

R. GEORGE CATLIN, an Amer. 
can artist, resided for many years 
among the wildest of the Wester© 
Indians, of whose manners, cus 
toms, and character, he has giveii 
the most lively and amusing 
Qescription in his ^'Letters and 
Notes." From this work we 
copy the following extract, which 
includes an account of one of his 
hunting excursions, while he was in the Indian country 

The several tribes of Indians inhabiting the regions of the Upper 
Missouri, are undoubtedly the finest looking, best equipped, and 
nest beautifully costumed of any on the Continent. They live in 
b. country well-stocked with buffaloes and wild horses, which furnish 
tM m an excellent and easy Hving ; the'r atmosphere is pure, which 
produces good health and long Ufa and they- are the most inde- 
pendent and the happiest races of Indians I have met v/ith ; they 
are all entirely in a state of primitive wildness, and consequently 
are picturesque and handsome, almost beyond description. Nothing 



124 fllTNTING ADVENTURES. 



in the world, of its kind, can possibly surpass in beauty and grace, 
some of their games and amusements — their gambols and parades, 
Df which I shall speak and paint hereafter. 

As far as my travels have yet led me into the Indian country, 1 
have more than realized my former predictions, that those Indians 
who could be found most entirely in a state of nature, with the 
least knowledge of civilized society, would be found to be the most 
cleanly in their persons, elegant in their dress and manners, and 
enjoying life to the greatest perfection. Of such tribes, perhaps 
the Crows and Blackfeet stand first ; and no one would be able to 
uppreciate the richness and elegance (and even taste, too,) with 
which some of these people dress, without seeing them in their 
own country. I will do all I can, however, to make their looks as 
well as customs known to the world ; I will paint with my brush 
and scribble with my pen, and bring their plumes and plumage, 
dresses, weapons, &c., and every thing but the Indian himself, to 
prove to the world the assertions which I have made above. 

Every one of these red sons of the forest (or rather of the prairie j 
is a knight and lord— his squaws are his slaves ; the only things 
which he deems worthy of his exertions are to mount his snorting 
steed, with his bow and quiver slung, his arrow-shield upon his 
arm, and his long lance glistening in the war-parade ; or, divested 
of all his plumes and trappings, armed with a simple bow and 
quiver, to plunge his steed amongst the flying herds of bufl^loes, 
and with his sinewy bow, which he seldom bends in vain, to drive 
deep to life's fountain the whizzing arrow. 

The buffalo herds, which graze in almost countless numbers on 
these beautiful prairies, afford them an abundance of meat ; and 
80 much is it preferred to all other, that the deer, the c\, and the 
antelope sport upon the prairies in herds in the greatest security ; 
as the Indians seldom kill them, unless they want their skins for a 
dress. The buffalo (or more correctly speaking, bison) is a noble 
animal that roams over the vast prairies, from the borders of Mexico 
on the south, to Hudson's Bay on the north. Their size is some 
what above that of our common bullock, and their flesh of a delicious 
flavor, resembhng and equalHng that of fat beef. Their flesh 



A BISON HUNT 



nj 




AMERICAN BISON. FEMALE IN THE DISTANCE. 



wheh is easily procured, furnishes the savages of these vast regions 
the means of a wholesome and good subsistence, and they live 
almost exclusively upon it — converting the skins, horns, hoofs and 
bones, to the construction of dresses, shields, bows, &c. The 
buffalo bull is one of the most formidable and frightful looking 
animals in the world when excited to resistance : his long shaggy 
mane hangs in great profusion over his neck and shoulders, and 
often extends quite down to the ground. The cow is less in 
Btature. and less ferocious ; though not much less wild and frightful 
in hex appearance. 

The mode in which these Indians kill this noble animal is spirited 
and thrilling in the extreme ; and I must in a future epistle, give 
you a minute account of it. I have almost daily accompanied 
parties of Indians to see the fun, and have often shared in it myself; 
but much oftener ran my horse by their sides, to see how the thing 
was done — to study the modes and expressions of thebe splendii 
icenes, which I am industriously putting upon the canvas. 



128 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



They are all (or nearly so) killed with arrows and the lance, 
while at full speed ; and the reader may easily imagine, that these 
sccRes aflord the most spirited and picturesque views of the sporting 
kind that can possibly be seen. 

At present I will give a little sketch of a bit of fun I jomed in 
festerdfiiy, with Mr. M'Kenzie and a number of his men, without 
the company or aid of Indians. 

I mentioned the other day, that M'Kenzie's table from day to 
Jay groans under the weight of buffalo tongues and beaver's tails 
and other luxuries of this western land. He has within his Fort 
t spacious ice-house, in which he preserves his meat fresh for any 
length of time required : and sometimes, when his larder runs low, 
he starts out, rallying some five or six of his best hunters (not to 
hunt, but to '<go for meat"). He leads the party, mounted on his 
favorite buffalo horse (i. e. the horse amongst his whole group 
which is best trained to run the buffalo,) trailing a light and short 
gun in his hand, such an one as he can most easily reload whiirt 
his horse is at full speed. 

Such was the condition of the ice-house yesterday mornmg, 
which caused these self-catering gentlemen to cast their eyes with 
a wishful look over the prairies ; and such was the pHght in which 
our host took the lead, and I, and then Mons. Chardon, and Ba'tiste 
Defonde and Tullock (who is a trader amongst the Crows, and is 
here at this time, with a large party of that tribe,) and there were 
several others whose names I do not know. 

As we were mounted and ready to start, M*Kenzie called up 
i'^ome four or five of his men, and told them to follow immediate^ 
on our trail, with as many one-horse carts, which they were to 
kamess up, to bring home the meat ; ^' ferry them across the rivei 
in a scow," said he, " and following our trail through tho bottom, 
you will find us on the plain yonder, between the Yellow Stone 
and Missouri rivers, with meat enough to load you home. My 
watch on yonder bluff has just told us by his signals, that there are 
cattle a plenty on that spot, and we are going there as fast as 
possible." We all crossed the river, and galloped away a couple 
of miles or so, when we mounted the bluff; and to be sure as waj 



A BISON HUNT. 131 



said, tnert was n full view of us a fine herd of some four or fivo 
hundred buffaloes, perfectly at rest, and in their own estimation 
(probably) perfectly secure. Some were grazing, and others were 
lying down and sleeping; we advanced within a mile or so of them 
in full view, and came to a halt. Mons. Chardon '< tossed the 
feather" (a custom always observed, to try the course of the wind,.) 
and we commenced ''stripping" as it is termed (i. e. every man 
Btrips himself and his horse of every extraneous and unnecessary 
appendage of dress, &c., that might be an incumbrance in running :) 
hats are laid off, and coats, and bullet pouches ; sleeves are rolled up, 
a handkerchief tied tightly around the head, and another around the 
waist — cartridges are prepared and placed in the waistcoat pocket, 
or a half a dozen bullets '^ throwed into the mouth," &c., &c., ali 
of which takes up some ten or fifteen minutes, and is not, in appear 
ance or in effect, unlike a council of war. Our leader lays the 
whole plan of the chase, and prehminaries all fixed, guns charged 
and ramrods in our hands, we mount and start for the onset. The 
horses are all trained for this business, and seem to enter into it 
with as much enthusiasm, and with as restless a spirit as the riders 
themselves. While "stripping" and mounting, they exhibit the 
most restless impatience ; and when " approaching" — (which is, 
all of us abreast, upon a slow walk, and in a straight line towards 
the herd, until they discover us and run,) they all seem to have 
caught entirely the spirit of the chase, for the laziest nt^ xjnongst 
them prances with an elasticity in his step — champing his bit — his* 
ears erect — his eyes strained out of his head, and fixed upoD Uie 
game before him, whilst he trembles under the saddle of his rider. 
In this way we carefully and silently marched, until within soms 
forty or fifty rods ; when the herd discovering us, wheeled and 
laid their course in a mass. At this instant we started ! (and all 
must start, for no one could check the fury of those steeds at that 
moment of excitement,) and away all sailed, and over the prairie 
flew, in a cloud of dust which was raised by their trampling hoofs. 
MtKenzie was foremost in the throng, and soon dashed off amidst 
^e «lust and was out of sight — he was after the fattest and the 
fckstesi. I had discovered a huge bull whose shoulders towered 



132 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



above the whole band, and I picked my way through the c;Owd to 
get alongside of him. I went not for "meat," but for a trophy ^ 
I wanted his head and horns. I dashed along through the thunder- 
ing mass, as they swept away over the plain, scarcely able to tell 
whether I was on a buffalo's back or my horse — hit, and hooketi, 
and jostled about, till at length I found myself alongside of my 
game, when I gave him a shot, as I passed him. I saw guns flash 
in several directions about me, but I heard them not. Amidst the 
trampling throng, Mons. Chardon had wounded a stately bull »nd 
at this moment was passing him again with his piece levellec for 
another shot ; they were both at full speed and I also, within the 
reach of the muzzle of my gun, when the bull instantly turned 
and receiving the horse upon his horns, the ground received poor 
Chardon, who made a frog's leap of some twenty feet or more over 
the bull's back, and almost under my horse's heels. I wheeled 
my horse as soon as possible and rode back, where lay poor Char- 
don, gasping to start his breath again ; and within a few paces of 
him his huge victim, with his heels high in the air, and the horse 
lying across him. I dismounted instantly, but Chardon was raismg 
himself on his hands, with his eyes and mouth full of dirt, and 
feeling for his gun, which lay about thirty feet in advance of him. 

*< Heaven spare you ! are you hurt, Chardon ?" " Hi — hie hie 

hie hie hie no, — ■ 

hie no no, I believe not. Oh ! this is not much, 

Mons. Cataline — this is nothing new — but this is a hard piece of 
ground here — hie — oh ! hie !" At this the poor fellow fainted, but 
in a few monents arose, picked up his gun, took his horse by the 
bit ; which then opened its eyes, and with a hie and a ugh — ughk ! 
■prang upon its feet — shook off the dirt — and here we were, all 
upon our legs again, save the bull, whose fate had been more sad 
than that of either. 

I turned my eyes in the direction where the herd had gone, and 
our companions in pursuit, and nothing could be seen of the-Ti, nor 
indication, except the cloud of dust which they left behind them. 
At a little distance on the right, however, I beheld my huge victim 
eDdeavoring to make as much head-way as he possibly could 



A BISON HUNT. 135 



from this dangeious ground, upon three legs. I galloped off to 
him, and at my approach he wheeled around — and bristled up for 
battle ; he seemed to know perfectly well that he cciuld not escape 
from me, and resolved to meet his enemy and death as bravely aa 
possible. 

I found that my shot had entered him a little too far forward, 
breaking one of his shoulders, and lodging in his breast, and from 
his very great weight it was impossible for him to make much 
advance upon me. As I rode up within a few paces of him, he 
would bristle up with fury enough in his looks alone, almost to 
annihilate me ; and making one lunge at me, would fall upon his 
neck and nose, so that I found the sagacity of my horse alone 
enough to keep me out of reach of danger : and I drew from my 
pocket my sketch-book, laid my gun across my lap, and commenced 
taking his likeness. He stood stiffened up, and swelling with 
awful vengeance, which was subhme for a picture, but which he 
could not vent upon me. I rode around him and sketched him in 
numerous attitudes ; sometimes he would lie down, and I would 
then sketch him ; then throw my cap at him, and rousing him on 
his legs, rally a new expression, and sketch him again. 

In this way I added to my sketch-book some invaluable sketches 
of this grim-visaged monster, who knew not that he was standing 
for his likeness. 

No man on earth can imagine what is the look and expression 
of such a subject before him as this was. I defy the world to pro- 
duce another animal that can look so frightful as a huge buffalo 
bull, when wounded as he was, turned round for battle, and swell- 
ing with rage ; — his eyes bloodshot, and his long shaggy mane 
hanging to the ground, — his mouth open, and his horrid rage 
hissing in streams of smoke and blood from his mouth and through 
his nostrils, as he is bending forward to spring upon his assailant. 

After I had had the requisite time and opportunity for using my 
pencil, M"^ Kenzie and his companions came walking their exhausted 
horses back from the chase, and in our rear came four or five carta 
to carry home the meat. The party met from all quarters around 
Ti« and my buffalo bull, whom I then shot in the bead and finished 



134 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



And being seated together for a few minutes, each one took a smoke 
of the pipe, and recited his exploits, and his "coups" or deaths; 
when all parties had a hearty laugh at me, as a novice, for naving 
aimed at an old bull, whose flesh was not suitable for food, and the 
carts were escorted on the trail, to bring away the meat. I rode 
back with Mr. M^ Kenzie, who pointed out five cows which he had 
killed, and all of them selected as the fattest and sleekest of the 
herd. This astonishing feat was all performed within the distance 
of one mile — all were killed at full speed, and every one shoi 
through the heart. In the short space of time required for a horse 
under "full whip," to run the distance of one mile, he had dis- 
charged his gun five, and loaded it four times — selected his animals, 
and killed at every shot ! There were six or eight others killed 
at the same time, which altogether furnished, as will be seen, 
abundance of freight for the carts ; which returned, as well a«5 
several packhorses, loaded with the choicest parts, which were cut 
from the animals, and the remainder of the carcasses left a prey for 
the wolves. 

Such is the mode by which white men live in this country — such 
the way in which they get their food, and such is one of their 
delightful amusements — at the hazard of every bone in one's body, 
to feel the fine and thrilling exhilaration of the chase for a moment, 
and then as often to upbraid and blame himself for his f ;lly and 
imprudence. 




A BISHOP HUNTING THE TIGER. 



135 




CHAPTER XXIV. 



A BISHOP HUNTING THE TIGER. 



A ^ _ W^~ \ ^^ ^^^® excellent Bishop Heber, in his journau 
5jft^'/* 'ijf has given a narrative of the mode in which a 
\^ I tiger-hunt is conducted, full of picturesque effect, 



and striking from its minute detail : 

"At KuUeanpoor, the young Raja Gourman 
Singh mentioned, in the course of conversation, 
that there was a tiger in an adjoining tope which 
had done a good deal of mischief; that he should have gone after 
it himself had he not been ill, and had he not thought it would be 
a fine diversion for Mr. Boulderson, the collector of the district, and 
me. I told him I was no sportsman, but Mr. Boulderson's eyes 
sparkled at the name of tiger, and he expressed great anxiety to 
beat up his quarters in the afternoon. Under such circumstances, 
I did not like to deprive him of his sport, as he would not leave me 
by myself, and went, though with no intention of being more than a 
tpetactor. Mr. Boulderson, however, advised me to load ray 



136 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



pistols for the sake of defence, and lent me a very fine doubl* 
barrelled gun for the same purpose. We set out a httie after three 
on our elephants, with a servant behind each howdah, carrying a 
large chatta, which, however, was almost needless. The Raja, in 
spite of his fever, made his appearance too, saying that he could 
not bear to be left behind. A number of people, on foot and horse- 
back, attended from our own camp and the neighboring villages, 
and the same sort of interest and delight was evidently excited 
which might be produced in England by a great coursing party. 
The Raja was on a little female elephant, hardly bigger than the 
Durham ox, and almost as shaggy as a poodle. She was a native 
of the neighboring wood, where they are generally, though not 
always, of a smaller size, than those of Bengal and Chittagong. 
He sat in a low howdah,* with two or three guns ranged beside him 
ready for action, Mr. Boulderson had also a formidable apparatus 
of muskets and fowling-pieces, projecting over his mohout's head. 
We rode about two miles across a plain covered with long jungle 
grass, which very much put me in mind of the country near the 
Cuban. Quails and wild-fowl arose in great numbers, and beautifui 
antelopes were seen scudding away in all directions.'* 

The Bishop then describes the beating of the jungle, the rushing 
out of two curious animals of the elk kind, called the " mohr," and 
the growing anxiety of all the people engaged in the hunt. He 
then proceeds thus : — 

" At last the elephants all drew up their trunks into the air, 
began to roar, and stamp violently with their fore-feet. The Raja's 
little elephant turned short round, and in spite of all her mohout 
(her driver) could say or do, took up her post, to the Raja's great 
innoyance, close in the rear of Mr. Boulderson. The other three 
(for one of my baggage elephants had come out too, the mohout, 
though unarmed, not caring to miss the show) went on slowly, but 
boldly, with their trunks raised, their ears expanded, and their 
sagacious little eyes bent intently forward. * We are close upon 
him,' said Mr. Boulderson; ^fire where you see the long grass 

* The howdah is a seat somewhat resembliag the body of a gig, and is fiMten«J 
by girths to the back of the elephant. 



A BISHOP HUNTING THE TIGER. 137 

■hake, if he rises before you.' Just at that moment my elepham 
stamped again violently. * There, there,' cried the mohout, « I saw 
his head.' A short roar, or rather loud growl followed, and I saw 
immediately before my elephant's head the motion of some large 
animal stealing through the grass. I fired as directed, and a 
moment after, seeing the motion still more plainly, fired the second 
barrel. Another short growl followed ; the motion was immediately 
quickened, and was soon lost in the more distant jungle. Mr. 
Boulderson said, 'I should not wonder if you hit him that last time; 
at any rate we shall drive him out of the cover, and then 1 will 
take care of him.' In fact, at that moment the crowd of horse and 
foot spectators at the jungle side, began to run off in all directions. 
We went on to the place, but found it was a false alarm ; and, in 
fact, we had seen all we were to see of him, and went twice more 
through the jungle in vain. . . . 

<* I asked Mr. Boulderson on our return, whether tiger-hunting 
was generally of this kind, which I could not help comparing to 
that chase of bubbles which enables us in England to pursue an 
otter. In a jungle, he answered, it must always be pretty much 
the same, inasmuch as, except under very peculiar circumstances, 
or when a tiger felt himself severely wounded, and was roused to 
revenge by despair, his aim was to remain concealed, and to make 
ofT as quietly as possible. It was after he had broken cover, or 
when he found himself in a situation so as to be fairly at bay, that 
the serious part of the sport began, in which case he attacked his 
enemies boldly, and always died fighting. He added, that the lion, 
though not so large or swift an animal as the tiger, was generally 
stronger and more courageous. Those which have been killed in 
India, instead of running away when pursued through a jungle, 
seldom seem to think its cover necessary at all. When they see 
their enemies approaching, they spring out to meet them, open- 
mouthed, in the plain, hke the boldest of all animals, a mastiff dog. 
They are thus generally shot with very little trouble ; but if they 
are missed, or only slightly wounded, they are truly formidable 
enemies. Though not swift, they leap with vast strength and vio- 
lence ; and their large heads, immense paws, and the ereat weight 



138 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



jf their body forwards, often enables them to spring on the head of 
the largest elephants, and fairly pull them down to the ground, 
riders and all. When a tiger springs on an elephant, the latter is 
generally able to shake him off under his feet, and then woe be to 
him. The elephant either kneels on him and crushes him at once, 
or gives him a kick which breaks half his ribs, and sends him flying 
perhaps twenty paces. The elephants, however, are often dread- 
fully torn ; and a large old tiger sometimes clings too fast to be thus 
dealt with. In this case it often happens that the elephant himself 
falls, from pain, or from the hope of roiling on his enemy ; and the 
people on his back are in very considerable danger both from friends 
and foes, for Mr. Boulderson said the scratch of a tiger was some- 
times venomous, as that of a cat is said to be. But this did not 
often happen ; and, in general, persons wounded by his teeth or 
claws, if not killed outright, recovered easily enough." 

We add to the Bishop's story one more by a gentleman in the 
civil service of the British East India Company. 

" I was at Jaffna, at the northern extremity of the Island of 
Ceylon, in the beginning of the year 1819 : when, one morning 
my servant called me an hour or two before my usual time, with, 
* Master, master ! people sent for master's dogs — tiger in the town !' 
Now, my dogs chanced to be some very degenerate specimens of a 
fine species, called the Poligar dog, which I should designate as a 
sort of wiry-haired greyhound, without scent. I kept them to 
Hunt jackals ; but tigers are very different things : by the way, 
there are no real tigers in Ceylon ; but leopards and panthers are 
always called so, and by ourselves as well as by the natives. This 
turned out to be a panther. My gun chanced not to be put together ; 
and while my servant was doing it, the collector, and two medical 
men, who had recently arrived, in consequence of the cholera 
morbus having just then reached Ceylon from the continent, came 
to my door, the former armed with a fowling-piece, and the two 
latter with remarkably blunt hog-spears. They insisted upon 
setting off without waiting for my gun, a proceeding not much to 
my taste. The tiger (I must continue to call him so) had taken 
refuge m a hut, the roof of which, as those of Ceylon huts in 



HUNTING THE TIGER. 139 



general, spread to the ground like an umbrella ; the only aperture 
into it was a small door, about four feet high. The collector wanted 
to get the tiger out at once. I begged to wait for my gun ; but 
no — the fowling-piece (loaded with ball, of course) and the two 
hog-spears were quite enough. I got a hedge-stake, and awaited 
my fate, from very shame. At this moment, to my great dehght, 
there arrived from the fort an English officer, two artillery-men, 
and a Malay Captain ; and a pretty figure we should have cut 
without them, as the event will show. I was now quite ready to 
attack, and my gun came a minute afterwards. The whole scene 
which follows took place within an enclosure, about twenty fef<t 
square, formed, on three sides, by a strong fence of palmyra leaves, 
and on the fourth by the hut. At the door of this the two artillery- 
men planted themselves ; and the Malay captain got on the top, to 
frighten the tiger out, by worrying it — an easy operation, as the 
huts there are covered with cocoa-nut leaves. One of the artillerj'* 
men wanted to go in to the tiger, but we would not suffer it. At 
last the beast sprang; this man received him on his bayonet, which 
he ♦hrust apparently down his throat, firing his piece at the same 
moment. The bayonet broke off short, leaving less than three 
inches on the musket ; the rest remained in the animal, but was 
invisible to us : the shot probably went through his cheek, for it 
certainly did not seriously injure him, as ho instantly rose upon 
his legs, with a loud roar, and placed his paws upon the soldier's 
breast. At this moment, the animal appeared to m.e to about reach 
the centre of the man's face ; but I had scarcely time to observe 
this, when the tiger, stooping his head, seized the soldier's arm in 
his mouth, turned him half round staggering, threw him over on 
his back, and fell upon mm. Our dread now was, that if we fired 
upon the tiger, we might kill the man : for a moment there was a 
pause, when his comrade attacked the beast exactly in the same 
manner as the gallant fellow himself had done. He struck hia 
bayonet into his head ; the tiger rose at him — he fired ; and this 
time the ball took effect, and in the head. The animal staggered 
backwards, and we all poured in our fire. He still kicked and 
tirrithed ; when the gentlemen with the hog-spears advanced, and 



J.40 HUNTING ADVENTURES, 



fixed him, while some natives finished him, by beating him eft ttu* 
head with hedge-stakes. The brave artillery-man was, after all, 
but slightly hurt : he claimed the skin, which was very cheerfully 
given to him. There was, however, a cry among the natives that 
the head should be cut off: it was; and in so doing, the knife 
tame directly across the bayonet. The animal measured scarcely 
less than four feet from the root of the tail to the muzzle. There 
was no tradition of a tiger having been in Jaffna before ; indeed, 
this one must have either come a distance of almost twenty miles, 
or have swam across an arm of the sea nearly two in breadth ; for 
Jaffna stands on a peninsula, on which there is no jungle of any 
magnitude. 




▲ PANTHIE. 



ADVENTURES WITH HTiENAS. 



141 




CHAPTER XXV. 



ADVENTURES WITH HYENAS. 




®' 



,F the hyaena there are two 
species, the common or 
striped, and the South African 
or Spotted Hyaena. The for- 
mer is found in Barbary, Egypt, 
Abyssinia, Nubia, Syria, and 
Persia. 
The spotted hysena is a native 
of Southern Africa ; and the species is found, in large numbers, 
in the neighborhood of the Cape of Good Hope ; from this circum- 
stance, Desmaret named it. The general shape of this hy^na is 
very similar to that of the striped, though it is ordmarily smaller. 
The mane is remarkable, but not quite so full as in the striped 
Bpecies. The general color of the hide is a dirty yellow, ap- 
proaching to a blackish brown on the belly and limbs, with spots 
also of a blackish brown, more or less deep, on all parts of the 



142 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 

Dody, excepting the under part of the belly and of the breast, tht 
inner surface of the limbs, and the head ; the extremity of th«^ 
muzzle is black ; the tail is brown, without spots. 

The pecuHar powers of the hyaena, arising out of the extraordi- 
nary strength of his jaws and teeth, admirably fit him for the pur- 
poses which he serves in the economy of nature. An inhabitant 
of warm countries, he principally derives his subsistence, in com- 
mon with the jackal and the vulture, from those animal remains, 
which, if unconsumed, would produce the most serious incon- 
venience. All the narratives of residents in, or travellers through, 
Southern Africa, agree in their accounts of these facts. Mr. 
Pringle, in the notes to his " Ephemerides," says, << There are 
several species of the vuhure in South Africa, but the most com- 
mon is the large hght-colored vultur percnopterus, one of the 
sacred birds of the ancient Egyptians. These fowls divide with 
the hyaenas the office of carrion-scavengers ; and the promptitude 
with which they discover and devour every dead carcase is truly 
surprising. They also instinctively follow any band of hunters, 
or party of men travelling, especially in solitary places, wheeling 
in circles high in the air, ready to pounce down upon any game 
that may be shot and not instantly secured, or the carcase of any 
ox or other animal that may perish on the road. I have seen a 
laro-e ox so dexterously handled by a flock of these voracious 
fowls, that in the course of three or four hours not a morsel, ex- 
cept the bones and the skin, (which they had contrived to disin- 
carnate almost entire,) remained for the hyaenas. In a field of 
b&ttle in South Africa, no one ever buries the dead : the birds and 
beasts of prey relieve the living of that trouble. Even the bones, 
except a few of the less manageible parts, find a sepulchre in the 
voracious maw of the hyaena." Mr. Burchell, speaking of the 
office of vultures in hot regions, says, « Vultures have been 
ordained evidently to perform very necessary and useful duties 
on the globe ; as, indeed, has every other animated being, how- 
ever purblind we may be in our views of their utility ; and we 
might almost venture to declare that those duties are the final 
cause of their existence. To those who have had an opportuniti» 



ADVENTURES WITH HYENAS. 143 



of examining these birds, it need not be remarked how perfectly 
the formation of a vuhure is adapted to that share in the daily 
business of the globe which has been allotted to it — that of clear- 
ing away putrid or putrescent animal matter, which might otherwise 
taint the air and produce infectious disease." The vulture is 
enabled to perform these duties, in countries of great extent and 
thinly-scattered population, principally from his extraordinary 
powers of sight. The wonderful extent of vision of this bird's eye 
is shown in the following instance : — "In the year 1778, Mr. Baber, 
and several other gentlemen, were on a hunting party, in the island 
of Cossimbuzar, in Bengal, about fifteen miles north of the city of 
Murshedabad. They killed a wild hog of uncommon size, and lefl 
it on the ground near the tent. An hour after, walking near the 
spot where it lay, the sky perfectly clear, a dark spot in the ail 
at a great distance attracted their attention. It appeared to 
increase in size, and move directly towards them ; as it advanced, 
it proved to be a vulture flying in a direct line to the dead hog 
In an hour, seventy others came in all directions, which induced 
Mr. Riber to remark, this cannot be smell."* The faculty of 
smell of the hyaena conducts him as certainly to his food as the 
sight of the vulture. Major Denham tells us in his Journal, 
" the hyaenas came so close to the tent last night, that a camel, 
which lay about a hundred yards from the enclosure, was found 
nearly half-eaten. A lion first made a meal on the poor animal, 
when the hyaenas came down upon what he had left." Mr. Bur- 
chell says, " A new species of antelope, which had been shot late 
on the preceding evening, was fetched home ; but during the night, 
the hyaenas, or wolves as they are usually called by the Boors and 
Hottentots, had devoured all the fiesh, leaving us only the head 
and the hide." These, and many more instances which we 
might select, show us that in these regions, in the very hour 
when any quadruped falls, the sharp-scented hyaenas immediately 
make their appearance, and rush into the encampments of man 
for th eir share of the prey. At the Cape, they formerly came 
down into the town, unmolested by the inhabitants, tc clear the 

• Homa. Comp. Anat vol iiL p. 21ft. 



144 flUNTINa ADVENTURES. 




STRIPED HY.£NA. 

ihambles of their refuse. The common notion that they teal 
newly-buried bodies out of graves is not inconsistent with theil 
extraordinary voracity, and the peculiar strength of their claws. 
It is well ascertained that hyaenas devour the dead carcases ol 
their own species. 

But the depredations of the hyaena are not confined to the 
remains of the dead. There are periods when they become bold 
from extreme hunger, and will carry off very large animals, and 
even human beings, with the most daring ferocity. Major Den- 
ham says, " At this season of the year," (August,) " there are 
other reasons, besides the falls of rain, which induce people to 
remain in their habitations. When the great lake overflows the 
immense district which, in the dry season, affords cover and food, 
by its coarse grass and jungle, to the numerous savage animals 
with which Bornou abounds, they are driven from these wilds, 
and take refuge in the standing corn, and sometimes in the imme- 
diate neighborhood of the towns. Elephants had already been 
seen at Dowergoo, scarcely six miles from Kouka ; and a female 
slave, while she was returning home from weeding the com, to 
Kowa, not more than ten miles distant, had been carried off by a 
lioness. The hysenas, which are everywhere in legions, grew 
now so extremely ravenous, that a good large village, where I 
sometimes procured a draught of sour milk on my duck-shooting 



ADVENTURES WITH HYENAS. 145 



excursions, had been attacked the night before my last 'Vjsit, the 
town absolutely carried by storm, notwithstanding defences nearly 
six feet high of branches of the prickly tulloh, and two donkies, 
whose flesh these animals are particularly fond of, carried ofl^, in 
«5pite of the eflx)rts of the people. We constantly heard them close 
*o the walls of our own town at nights ; and on a gate being left 
partly open, they would enter and carry off any unfortunate animal 
that they could find in the streets." 

With this strong desire for food, approaching to the boldness of 
the most desperate craving, the hyaena, although generally fearful 
of the presence of man, is an object of natural terror to the African 
traveller. Bruce relates, that one night in Maibsha, in Abyssinia, 
he heard a noise in his tent ; and getting up from his bed, saw two 
large blue eyes glaring upon him. It was a powerful hyaena, who 
had been attracted to the tent by a quantity of candles, which he 
had seized upon, and was bearing off in his mouth. He had a 
desperate encounter with the beast, but succeeded in killing him. 
In the neighborhood of the ruins of those cities on the northern 
coast of Africa, which, in ancient times, were the abodes of wealth 
and splendor, and witnessed the power of the Ptolemies and 
Caesars, the hyaena is a constant resident, and increases the sense 
of desolation by the gloominess of his habits. At Ptolemeta, where 
there are many remains of former architectural magnificence, the 
fountains which were constructed for the accommodation of an enor- 
mous population are now useless, except to the wandering Arabj 
and to the jackal and hyaena, who stray amongst these ruins after 
sunset, to search for water at the deserted reservoirs.* Seldom does 
the hyaena molest the traveller in these solitudes ; but his howl, or 
the encounter of his fierce and sullen eye, is always alarming. 
Captain Beechey says, " although we had very frequently been dis- 
turbed by hyaenas, we never found that familiarity with their 
howl, or their presence, could render their near approach an un- 
important occurrence ; and the hand would instinctively find its 
\ray to the pistol, before we were aware of the action, whenever 
ciiner of ;hese interruptions obtruded themselves closely upon us, 

• Be«chey. 
10 



146 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



either by night or by day." Such encounters are generally with- 
out any fatal results, if the man does not commence the attack ; 
the hyaena sets up a howl, and doggedly walks away, with his 
peculiar limping motion, which gives him an appearance of lame- 
ness ; but when he is attacked, his resistance is as fierce as it is 
obstinate. 

The hygena has always been an object of aversion to mankind ; 
and this feeling has been kept up, not only by the showman's 
stories of " that cruel and untameable beast, that never was yet 
tamed by man,*' but by writers of natural history, from the days 
of Pliny to those of Goldsmith. The latter pleasant compiler tells 
us, '' no words can give an adequate idea of this animal's figure, 
deformity, and fierceness. More savage and untameable than any 
other quadruped, it seems to be forever in a state of rage or 
rapacity." With regard to its deformity, we are rather of opinion 
with Sir Thomas Brown, that '' there is a general beauty in the 
works of God ; and therefore no deformity in any kind of species 
of creature whatsoever ;" and, with him, we " cannot tell by what 
logic we call a toad, a bear, or an elephant ugly, they being 
created m those outward shapes and figures which best express 
those actions of their inward forms."* That the hyaena can be 
tamed, and most completely and extensively so, there can be no 
doubt. "The cadaverous crocutar (the spotted hyaena,) says 
Barrow, in his Travels in Southern Africa, " has lately been 
domesticated in the Snewberg, where it is now considered one of 
the best hunters after game, and as faithful and diligent as any of 
the common sorts of domestic dogs." Bishop Heber saw a gentle- 
man in India, Mr. Traill, who had a hyaena for several years, 
•vhich followed him about like a dog, and fawned on those with 
whom h-e was acquainted ; and the Bishop mentions this as an 
instance of "how much the poor hyaena is wronged, when he is 
described as untameable." M. F. Cuvier notices an ^nimal of 
this species that had been taken young at the Cape, and was 
tamed without difficulty. His keepers had a complete command 
•▼er his affecticns. He one day escaped from his cage, and 

* Religio Medici, S 15. 



ADVENTURES WITH HYENAS. 147 

quietly walked into a cottage, where he was retaken without offer- 
ing any resistance. And yet the rage of this animal was occa- 
sionally very great when strangers approached it. The fact is, 
that the hyasna is exceedingly impatient of confinement ; and feels 
a constant irritation at the constraint which, in the den of a mena- 
gerie, is put upon his natural habits. An individual at Exeter 
Change, some years ago, was so tame, as to be allowed to walk about 
the exhibition-room. He was afterwards sold to a person, who 
permitted him to go out with him into the fields, led by a string. 
After these indulgences, he became the property of a travelling 
showman, who kept him constantly in a cage. From that time 
his ferocity became quite alarming ; he would allow no stranger 
to approach him ; and he gradually pined away and died. Thij 
is one, out of the many examples, of the miseries which we inflict 
«pon animals, through an ignorance of their natural habits. 





CHAPTER XX . 

HUNTING THE OURANG OUTANQ. 

HE Orangs, or « Wild men of the Woods," for a 
long time enjoyed a reputation almost human, a 
reputation kept up by the prints and drawmgs 
which formerly placed them almost uniformly in 
an erect position, and by the tricks which those 
brought to Europe were taught. But neither is the Asiatic nor 
the African Orang formed for erect progression. If left to them- 
selves, they move on the ground most awkwardly, doubling their 
anterior hands, nioring in their advance upon the knuckles, and 
resting upon tho outward edge of the posterior feet. Among 
trees they are as active and rapid in their motion as they ar« 
clumsy and slow on the ground. 

The anterior extremities of the Orang Utan* are nearly as long 
as they are in Hylobates ; the hands, in this Asiatic, reach nearly 
to the heels. There is a marked difference between the skull of 
this species an i the crania of Hylobates and of the Chimpanzee. 
The interparie ;al crest in Pithecua satyrus is as highly developed 

* Pitheco* Mtynt. 



HUNTING THE OURANG OUTANG. 151 



as it is in the carnivorous tribe, and the zygomatic arch is widely 
expanded ; nor are these the only points of resemblance. In the 
Hoolock and in the Chimpanzee the skull is comparatively smooth 
"and human on its outward surface. 

Sun itra and Borneo are the principal localities where the 
•.nirang Outang has been hitherto found ; and those which have been 
brought to Europe have exhibited a considerable degree of intelli- 
gence, though, as far as our experience and information go, not 
80 high a degree as is manifested by the Chimpanzee. An Ourang 
Outang, brought to England by Captair Methuen, made no attempt 
to escape when suffered to be at large before he was shipped, but 
became violent when incarcerated in a bamboo cage. He at first 
shook the rails violently, but, finding that they did not yield to his 
efforts, he tried them separately, pitched upon the weakest, and 
perseveringly worked at it till he broke it and regained his liberty. 
Then they tried to confine him by a chain fastened to a strong 
staple ; he soon unfastened it, and ran off. Finding the incum- 
brance of the chain, as he dragged it after him, he collected it 
into one or two coils and threw it over his shoulder ; this he did, 
as occasion required, till, finding that it slipped from his shoulder, 
he held it in his mouth. At last he was suflfered to roam freely 
about the ship, and became a general favorite, from the grave 
playfulness of his manners, and his burlesque of human actions 
and passions. Among other feats he stole the captain's brandy 
bottle, and did his best to throw a cage full of small monkeys 
overboard. This propensity to monkey-murder has been observed 
in most of the individuals who have had an opportunity of show- 
ing it ; as if the Ourangs considered the monkeys libellous cari- 
catures upon their more dignified development, and were eager 
to get rid of their irritating presence. When refused what he 
wanted he would roll himself on deck, and behave as naughtily aa* 
any froward child could ; nay, if the refusal were persisted in, he 
would suddenly rise, and, uttering piercing screams, rush over 
the ship's side, as though, in h*s despair, he were going to throw 
himself into the sea. At first ihe coptain and his crew actually 
diought that the} had carr ed the jd ke too far, and driven their 



152 HtJNTINa ADVENTURES, 



cheiroped shipmate to commit suicide ; but, on searching, they 
found him concealed under the chains. 

The individuals, however, brought to this country, give but a 
faint idea of the size and appearance of a full-grown Ourang Outang 
Mi. Owen, in his highly interesting memoir on the osteology of 
this species and the Chimpanzee, gives the height of the Ourang 
Outang as under five feet ; but, according to Dr. Abel, its stature 
when adult is, sometimes at least, much beyond that limit. 

In the ^' Asiatic Researches," the Doctor lays before us an 
account of a scene in which one of these unfortunate Ourangs was 
a principal actor, or rather sufferer; an account which no one can 
read without pain ; — 

A party from a brig had, it appears, landed at Ramboon, on 
the nortbvest coast of Sumatra, to procure water. The place 
was much cultivated, and there were but few trees ; on one of 
these trees they discovered a gigantic animrJ. They approached, 
•ind he came to the ground. They pursued, and he made for 
another tree at some distance, presenting to his pursuers a tail 
man-like figure covered with a fell of shining brown hair, moving 
almost erect with a waddling gait, sometimes assisting his progress 
with his hands, and sometimes by the impulse of a bough which 
he held. On gaining a small clump, he sprang at a bound to a 
lofty branch, and passed from one limb of the tree to another with 
the greatest ease and alacrity. They felt that, if the country had 
been well wooded, he must, in all probability, have escaped : foi 
he travelled from tree to tree with the swiftness of a horse on the 
ground. Confined as he was to only a few trees, his movements 
were so quick that it was very difficult to take aim, and it was not 
till his hunters had cut down one tree after another, that they were 
able effectually to begin their butcher-work. Five balls pierced the 
wretched creature before his exertions relaxed ; then, reclining 
apparently exhausted, on one of the branches, he copiously 
vomitted blood. Still he held on ; and their ammunition being 
all expended, they proceeded to cut down the tree, convincea thai 
he was so far gone that they -could then secure him without 
Irouble. The tree nodded to its fall ; but, as it was falling, they 



HJNTING THE OURANQ OUTANG. 153 



to their surprise, saw him gain another, and they were obh'ged to 
cut down all the trees before they could bring him to the earth. 
Even then, mangled as he was, he made a most determined de- 
fence against the numbers who attacked him with spears, large 
stones, and other missiles. He broke the shaft of one spear — it 
was made of a supple wood, and would have withstood the strength 
f the stoutest man — " as if it had been a carrot,'* to use the 
words of the narrator. Those who aided in this slaughter 
acknowledged that they were distressed by the human-like ex- 
pression of his countenance, the piteous manner in which he 
applied his hands to his wounds, and the whole bearing of the 
dying combatant. They confessed that the sight was such as 
almost to make them question the nature of the act they were 
committing. He lay dead before them, upwards of six feet in 
length at the lowest computation, according to the narrative. 

We know not what view their worships of the learned societies 
may take of this transaction, for there is no telling how far a zeal 
for science may carry its votaries,* but to the unlearned it must 
look rather murderous. 

The captain, who furnished Dr. Abel with the details, stated 
that the creature was a full head taller than any man on board, 
measuring seven feet in what might be called his ordinary stand- 
ing posture, and eight feet when suspended for the purpose of 
being skinned. Dr. Abel describes the skin, dried and shrivelled 
as it was, as measuring in a straight line, from the top of the 
shoulder to the part where the ancle had been removed, five feet 
ten inches ; the perpendicular length of the neck, as in the pre- 
paration, three inches and a half; the length of the head, from 
the top of the forehead to the end of the chin, nine inches ; and 
the length of the skin still attached to the foot, from the line of itf 
separation from the leg, eight inches, 

• We remember to have heard of a clause said to have been in the direction! 
(^iven, many years ago, to a commander of an expedition of discovery, somewhat 
to the following effect: — "You are to avoid collision with the natives; but if, 
unfortunately, such an event should happen, and one of them should be killed, 
jrott will preserve the body in spirit and bring it home for examination.'* 



154 



HUNTING ADVENTURES, 




CHAPTER XXVII. 




1 



HUNTING MONKEYS. 

modem zoologist* has, nol 
inaptly, applied the term 
Cheiropeds or hand-footed animals 
to monkeys ; and, indeed, strictly 
speaking, they can hardly be 
called quadrumanous or four- 
handed. Their extremities, ad- 
mirably fitted for grasping and 
climbing, as far as their arboreal 
habits require those actions, fall short — how very far short !— of 
that wonderful instrument which surrounds a being born one of 
the most helpless of all creatures, with necessaries, comforts, and 
luxuries, and enables him to embody his imaginings in works 
almost divine. We look in vain among the most perfectly- 
formed of the anthropoid apes for the well-developed opposable 
thumb of the human hand — that great boon, the ready agent of 
man's will, by means of which he holds " dominion over the fish 



Mr. OsilbF. 



HUNTING MONKEYS. 155 



of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living 
thing that moveth upon the earth." 

The hands of the monkeys are at best but "half made up,'' 
and they are generally more or less well fashioned in proportion 
to the greater or less prehensile development of the tail. The 
habits of the race are arboreal, and their favorite haunts are the 
recesses of those tropical forests where they can either sport in 
the sunbeams on the topmost boughs, or shelter themselves from 
its scorching rays under the impervious canoi:>y of a luxuriant 
vegetation. When their privacy is invaded by man, a restless 
and constantly recurring curiosity seems to be their prevailing 
filing at first, and at last the intruders are frequently pelted with 
stones, sticks, and fruits heavy and hard, more especially if they 
make any demonstration of hostility. 

Robert Lade thus speaks of their behavior when he went to 
hunt some of them near the Cape : — 

"I can neither describe all the arts practised by these animals, 
nor the nimbleness and impudence with which they returned after 
being pursued by us. Sometimes they allowed us to approach so 
near them, that I was almost certain of seizing them; but when I 
made the attempt, they sprung, at a single leap, ten paces from 
me, and mounted trees with equal agility, from which they looked 
with great indifference, and seemed to derive pieasurt? from our 
astonishment. Some of them were so large, that if our interpreter 
had not assured us that they were neither ferocious nor dangerous, 
our number would not have appeared to be sufficient to protect us 
from their attacks. As it would serve no purpose to kill them, 
we did not use our guns" (we respect the good feeling of honest 
iobert and his companions) ; " but the captain happened to aim 
lit a very large one which sat on the top of a tree, after having 
fatigued us a long time in pursuing him. This kind of menace 
however, of which the animal perhaps recollected his having 
sometimes seen the consequences, terrified liim to such a degree, 
that he fell down motionless at our feet, and we had no difficulty 
in seizing him. But whenever he recovered from his stupor it 
requirea all our dexterity and efforts to keep him. We tied hifl 



156 HUNTINa ADVENTURES. 



paws together ; but he bit so furiously that we were under the 
necessity of covering his head with our handkerchiefs." 

Indeed, those who have only seen these agile creatures in 
menageries, or in a reclaimed state, can have no idea of the wild 
activity of the tribe in their native woods. Swinging and leaping 
from tree to tree, ever on the hunt for fruits and birds' nests — they 
are most unconscionable plunderers of eggs — they lead a merry 
life, which is, however, often cut short by those mighty snakes 
that frequently lie in ambush near their careless, unsuspecting 
prey. These serpents are the greatest enemies of the monkeys, 
with the exception of the common persecutor — man. He, indeedj 
is sometimes touched by compunctious visitings, when it is too late. 

" Seeing me," says a South American traveller, speaking of a 
monkey, '' nearly on the bank of the river in a canoe, the creature 
made a halt from skipping after his companions, and, being 
perched on a branch that hung over the water, examined me with 
attention and the strongest marks of curiosity, no doubt taking me 
for a giant of his own species, while he chattered prodigiously, 
and kept dancing and shaking the bough on which he rested, with 
mcredible strength and agility. At this time I laid my piece to 
my shoulder, and brought him down from the tree into the stream ; 
but may I never again be a witness to such a scene ! The mise- 
rable animal was not dead, but mortally wounded. I seized him 
by the tail, and taking him in both my hands to end his torments, 
swung him round and hit his head against the side of the canoe ; 
but the poor creature still continuing ahve, and looking at me in 
the most affecting manner that can be conceived, I knew no other 
means of ending his murder than to hold him under the water 
till he was drowned, while my heart sickened on his account, for 
his dying little eyes still continued to follow me with seeming 
reproach, till their light gradually forsook them, and the wretched 
animal expired. I felt so much on this occasion that I could 
neither taste of him nor his companions when they were dressed, 
though I saw that they afforded to some others a delicious repast.' 

The repentant writer and his party were driven to the commis* 
Bion of the act for the want of fresh provisions ; and many of the 



HUNTING MONKEYS. 15» 




WHITE-EYELID MONKEY, 

family are considered most excellent eating — by those who can get 
over the appearance of the animal and of its bones when cooked 
There are not many, however, who can sit down to a dish of 
monkeys without feeling that it is rather a cannibalish proceeding. 
The Mangabey, or White-eyelid Monkey,* belongs to the 
genus cercocebus. Western Africa is his locality. The Man- 
gabey, with its upper eyelids of a dead white, was so named by 
Buffon, from the erroneous supposition that his specimens were 
brought from that territory in Madagascar. In a state of captivity 
it is a most unwearied droll — frolicsome and good-natured withal. 
Sir William Jardine mentions a female in Mr. Wombwell's mena- 
gerie that was most lively, and gives a figure of her, no easy task, 
for she was never at rest for one moment ; and her activity was 
increased when she perceived that she was noticed. " She per- 
formed," says Sir William, ^< many of the attitudes of the most 
experienced harlequins. * * "^ She was remarkably cleanly and 
careful r ot to soil her person. When feeding, she seldom put 
her head to the food or dish, but hfted and conveyed it to her 
mouth." Her diet consisted of bread and milk p;-incipally, and 
regetables occasionally : like Potemkin, she was very fond of a 

* Cercocebus fuliginosus 



160 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



carrot. The large troops in which the Green Monkeys assemble 
have been remarked by many travellers. It was one of these 
societies, most probably, that afforded M. Adanson the excellent 
sport, on the enjoyment of which he dwells with so much satis- 
faction. The poor animals were surprised in the midst of their 
tricks ; and M. Adanson declares that nothing could be more 
entertaining than the endeavors of the httle wretches to escape 
from the slaughtering gun which the traveller seems to have 
worked most unrelentingly. Though he killed twenty-three in 
less than one hour, within a space of twenty toises, and wounded, 
we dare say, many more, not one of the sufferers screamed during 
the whole time ; but the rest gathered together in companies, knit 
their brows, gnashed their teeth, and yelled as if they intended to 
attack him. We wish they had with all our hearts, and to some 
purpose, too, though we have great respect for philceophers in 
general, and for zoologists in particular. 

The fuU-maned Colobus, or full-bottomed Monkey, is a native 
of the forests of Sierra Leone. It is called by the natives the 
king of the monkeys, on account of its colors, and the camali 
which represents a sort of diadem. Its fur is highly esteemed. 
The head and shoulders are covered with long yellow and black 
hairs, forming a sort of mane-like hood or pelerine. The face is 
brown ; the body is covered with short jet black hair ; the tail is 
snow white and tufted. Its great beauty causes it to be hunted 
by the natives with great activity. Bows, arrows, and lances, are 
employed in hunting it, and snares and traps for its capture. It 
is rarely seen, however, out of its native country. 

The Guereza is a monkey of the Colobus genus. Its general 
color is black, but its sides and the back are ornamented with long 
pendent white hairs, forming a fringe-like mantle, its face encircled 
with white, tail ending in a white tuff. Native country. South 
and West Abyssinia, where ii is hunted by the natives, who con- 
sider it a mark of distinction to possess a buckler covered with its 
skin, the part used being that covered with the ong flowing whit* 
hairs. 




rri*l/-MANED COLOBUS. 



11 



HUNTING THE IBEX. 



163 




THE IBEX. 



CHAPTER XXYIIL 



HUNTING THE IBEX. 

HIS bold and powerful animal, 
armed with huge sweeping 
horns, inhabits the Alpine heights 
of Europe, and Western Asia. It 
associates in small troops, con- 
sisting of a male and a few 
females. The horns of the 
male curve boldly over the back, 
their anterior surface presenting 
a series of regular protuberances 
or partial rings; their length is often three feet. In the female 
thev are smaller. The hair ( f the Ibex in summer is short and 




164 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



close; m w.nter 'tong and thick; its color is yellowish grey, a 
black streak extending along the spine ; the croup is white, as 
are also the under parts of the body, a dark tint abruptly dividing 
the white from the general color above. The chin is bearded, 
The Ibex stands two feet six or eight inches in height, and is 
extremely active and vigorous. 

The chase of the Ibex is as arduous as that of the chamois, 
the animal leading its pursuer, unless he can steal upon it 
unawares with his rifle, a dangerous track over steep and rug- 
ged mountain pinnacles, along the brink of precipices, and 
over fearful chasms ; <vhen at last hard pressed, the Ibex will 
often turn upon its fot with impetuous rapidity, and hurl him 
headlong down the steep rocks or abrupt precipices. 

The Ibex is vigilant and wary ; and it is only during the night 
that it descends to pasture in the woods, but at sunrise again 
repairs to the bleak mountain summits. Like the chamois, it is 
satisfied with a frugal fare, and a scanty supply of water. It is 
said that the old males seek more elevated spots than the females 
and younger males, which are more easily to be obtained. The 
only sound which the animal makes is a short whistle, and when 
irritated a snorting noise. In Europe, its favorite haunts are the 
Alps, the Ajipenines, the Pyrenees, and the mountains of Tyrol 
n Asia, it is fourjd in the mountain chains of the Taurus. 





IBEX liUNTEEi. 



HUNTING THE PACA. 



167 




THE DUSKY PACA, 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



HUNTING THE PACA, THE AGOUTI, THE VISCACHA, AND THB 
CHINCHILLA. 

HE Dusky Pacha, accordino« 
to Cuvier, is identical with 
the Fulvous Paca ; but wa 
have examined the skulls, and 
find them different. In the 
J r\ former, the bones of the skull 
are smooth, and the zygomatic 
arches less inordinately de- 
veloped. The general color of 
the Dusky Paca is brownish- 
black, with four lateral rows of white spots, which begin on the 
shoulders and terminate on the buttocks. The lowest line is 
almost confounded with the white of the under surface — the sides 
of the lower jaw, the throat, and chest are also white. Total length 
of head and body, about two feet ; average height fourteen inches 
These animals are natives of the whole of the eastern portion Oi 
South America, from Surinam to Paraguay, and formerly existed 
also in some of the islands of the West Indies. Forests in tha 




168 HtJNTmG ADVENTURES. 



vricinit} of water, wooded, marshy places, and borders of rivers are 
their favorite localities ; they inhabit burrows, which they excavate, 
but so superficially, that they are apt to give way beneath the foot 
of a person passing over them, no less to his annoyance than that 
of the animal which thus finds itself in open daylight. These 
burrows have, it has been asserted, three openings, which the 
animal conceals with dry leaves and branches. In order to capture 
the Paca alive, the hunter stops two of these apertures, and pro 
ceeds to work at the third, till he arrives at the chamber to which 
the apertures lead. Driven to extremity, the Paca makes a severe 
resistance, often inflicting severe wounds. 

When not disturbed, the Paca often sits up and washes its head 
and whiskers with its two fore- paws, which it licks and moistens 
with its sahva at each ablution, like a cat ; and with its fore-paws, 
as well as with the hind ones, it often scratches itself and dresses 
its fur. Though heavy and corpulent, it can run with a good deal 
of activity, and often takes lively jumps. It swims and dives with 
great adroitness, and its cry resembles the grunt of a young pig. 
Its food consists of fruits and tender plants, which it seeks in the 
night, hardly ever quitting its burrow in the day, the strong light 
of which, as is the case with other nocturnal animals, is oppressive 
to its eye. The planter often rues the visits made by these mid- 
night foragers to his sugar-canes. The female is said to bring 
forth in the rainy season, and to produce but a single young one, 
which stays a long time with its mother. The Pacas are very 
ciean animals in all their habits, and keep their subterranean 
dwelling in a state of the utmost purity. 

The Agouti use the fore-paws as hands to convey their food to 
the mouth, and usually sit upright on their haunches to eat ; they 
frequently also assume the same position in order to look around 
them, or when they are surprised by any unusual sound or occur- 
rence. Their food is exclusively of a vegetable nature, and consists 
most commonly of wild yams, potatoes, and other tuberous roots ; 
in the islands of the difl^erent West India groups, they are particu- 
larly destructive to the sugar-cane — of the roots of which they are 
extremely fond. The planters employ every artifice for destroying 



HUNTING THE AGOUTI AND VISCACHA. 169 




THE AGOUTI. 

them, so that at present they have hecome comparatively rare in 
the sugar islands, though at the first settlement of the Antilles and 
Bahamas they swarmed in multitudes, and were the principal 
article of food for the Indians. 

The Agouti is very abundant in Brazil and Guiana, and occurs 
also in Paraguay, where it was observed by D'Azara, who informs 
us that the Guianians term it Cotia ; in size it is about equal to a 
rabbit, but it rarely if ever makes a burrow. It frequents densely 
wooded districts in preference to open land, and generally takes up 
its residence in the hollow trunks of decayed trees, where it remams 
concealed during the day. This retreat usually serves for several 
individuals, for it appears to be gregarious, associating in smalJ 
troops of eighteen or twenty individuals. Its movements are rapid, 
active and abrupt, and when chased, it bounds along hke a hare, 
to gain its accustomed hiding-place. 

In Brazil and Guiana, the agouti is exposed to wholesale de- 
struction for the sake of its flesh, which is said to be intermediate 
in flavor between the hare and rabbit ; but in Paraguay, according 
to D'Azara, no one eats it, and M. Moreau St. Mery, observes 
that it has a strong sort of flavor, and is a dish of httle relish to 
the palate. The latter writer also informs us that the agouti is 
common in the island of St. Lucia, and also inhabits others of the 
West Indian group : and that in 1788 several were taken in St. 
Dom.ingo, which had made a hollow tree their domicil. 

Th« Viscacha is thus described by Mr. Bennett. 

Taking the place of the rabbit, which is wanting m Peru, there 
18 another kind of animal called viscacha, which is not found in 

15 



170 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



vluito. In form, and in the color of its fur, it is similar to th« 
rabbit but differs from it in having a long tail furnished with tufted 
hair (like that of the squirrel,) which is very thin towards the root, 
but thick and long as it approaches the tip. It does not carry ita 
tail turned over the head like the squirrel, but stretched out, as it 
were in a horizontal direction; its joints are slender and scaly. 
These animals conceal themselves in holes of the rocks, in which 
they make their retreats, not forming burrows in the earth like 
rabbits. There they congregate in considerable numbers, and are 
mostly seen in a silting posture, but not eating ; they feed on the 
herbs and shrubs that grow among the rocks, and are very active 
Their means of escane do not consist in the velocity of their flight 
but in the promp^vude with which they run to the shelter of their 
holes. This they commonly do when wounded ; for which reason 
the mode of killing them is by shooting them in the head ; as if 
they receive the charge in any other part, although much injured, 
ihey do not fail to go and die in the interior of their burrows. They 
have this pecuharity, that as soon as they die their hair falls ofl^, and 
on this account, although it is softer and somewhat longer and finer 
than that of the rabbit, the skin cannot be made use of for common 
purposes. The flesh is white but not well flavored, being especially 
distasteful at certain seasons, when it is altogether repugnant to the 
palate. 

The Chinchilla Lanigera, whose fur was formerly so generally 
used as an article of dress and ornament, is another species of the 
Laofotis found in Peru. Is also bears the name of Viscacha or 
Biscacha among the natives. It digs its burrows in the more 
elevated parts of the plains with so much art, that no aperture is 
left by which the rain can penetrate ; and these burrows are 
divided into distinct settlements, numerous families inhabiting the 
same locality. On the surface of the ground are several entrances 
to the burrows, at which, towards sunset, they are seen seated in 
crowds, diligently listening for the sound of any person approach 
ing. If everything remains quiet, they seek their food in the 
obscurity of the night, and commit grievous devastation on the 
neighboring fields, devouring both wheat and Indian com with 



HUNTING THE CHINCHILLA. 



171 




THE CHINCHILLA. 



extreme avidity, and when either is to be had, despising grass. 
For this reason the stations of the Biscachas are rarely to be seen 
in the desert plains, but indicate with certainty the near neighbor- 
hood of the Spanish settlements. I have often wondered never to 
have seen the Biscacha in the territories either of the Abipones 
or the Guaranis, although well supplied with all kinds of crops 
They daily heap up, at the entrance of their burrow, dry bones, 
chips of wood, or whatever other refuse they may meet with, but 
for what purposes they collect such things it is impossible even to 
conjecture. The Spanish colonists amuse themselves with hunt- 
ing them ; pouring many buckets of water into their subterraneous 
retreats, until, to avoid drowning, the animals come forth into the 
plain, where, no means of escape being afforded them, they are 
killed with sticks. Their flesh, unless when very old, is not con- 
sidered despicable even by the Spaniards." The Abbe Jolis 
dwelt for twelve years in South America, and made three journeys 
into the remote districts of the interior. His work, 'Saggio sulla 
Storia Naturale della Provincia del Granchaco' (Faenza, 1789,) is 
.?o little known, and his description, in some particulars, differs so 
much from that of Dobrizhoffer, that we give Mr. Bennett's trans- 



172 



HTTNTING ADVENTURfiS. 



lation of it. * The Biscachas live in society, in burrows undef 
ground, which they form for themselves, excavating in all direc- 
tions to the extent of a mile in circumference, with various exits 
and separate retreats, in which the old live distinct from the 
younger. The soil in which these are usually made is that which 
is hard and barren, and destitute of everything, but with bushes 
(b(>scaglie) at no great distance, and pasture of tender grass, roots, 
and the bark of trees. They collect around their retreats bones, 
dried leaves, and whatever they find in the neighborhood : if any- 
thing is missing in their districts, it is to be found with certainty 
piled up in these situations the following day. As they are arxi- 
mals that avoid the light, having little power of vision, they are 
not to be seen in the day-time, unless at d;iwn, or towards evening 
after sunset. The night, and especially when the moon shines, 
is the proper time for seeking their food. Those among the 
Biscachas which are called Chinchillas, and which may be said 
to belong to the first species, inhabit oniy the mountains and cold 
situations ; in size they are like a rabbit, and are clothed with a 
fine long fur. Their agility is surprising ; they are seen leaping 
from rock to rock as if they had the faculty of flight. The others, 
indicated above, inhabit the level country, in warm situations. . . . 
Fierce and courageous, they defend themselves with all their 
might against the do^s, and sometimes even attack the legs of 
the hunters. I shall speak in my travels, as a fitter place, of th© 
three curious modes in which they are driven out of their retreats,* 
that is ♦.:• say, with water, with fire, and by rubbing "ticks to 
gather." 




Vi^i^. 



HUNTING THE MOOSB. 



178 




THE MOOSE. 

CHAPTER XXX, 



HUNTING THE MOOSE. 

fHIS animal is the largest of the genus Alces, oeing higher f^ 
the shoulders than the horse; its horns weigh sometimes 
near fifty pounds ; accordingly, to bear this heavy weight, its neck 
is short and strong, taking away much of the elegance 6f propor- 
tion so generally predominant in the deer ; but when it is asserted 
that the elk wants beauty or majesty, the opinion can be enter- 
tahied by those who have seen the female only, the young, or the 
mere stuffed specimens ; for those who have had the opportunity of 
viewing the animal in all the glory of its full-grown horns, amid 
the scenery of his own wilderness, no animal could appear more 
majestic or more imposing. It is however the aggregate of his 
appearance which produces this effect; for when the proportions 
of its structure are considered in detail, they certainly wul seera 
destitute of the harmony of parts which in the imatrination pro- 



174 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 

duces the feeling of beauty. The head measuring abcre two feet 
m length, is narrow and clumsily shaped, by the swelling upon 
the upper part of the nose and nostrils ; the eye is proportionably 
small, and sunk ; the ears long, hairy, and asinine ; the neck and 
withers are surmounted by a heavy mane ; and the throat fur- 
nished with long coarse hair, and, in younger specimens, encum- 
bered with a pendulous gland : these give altogether an uncouth 
character to this part of the animal. Its body, however, is round, 
compact, and short ; the tail not more than four inches long ; and 
the legs, though very long, are remarkably clean and firm ; this 
length of limb and the overhanging lips have caused the ancients 
to flmcy that it grazed walking backwards. The hair of the ani- 
mal is coarse and angular, breaking if bent. Its movements are 
rather heavy, and the shoulders being higher than the croup, it 
does not gallop, but shuffles or ambles along, its joints cracking at 
every step, with a sound heard to some distance. Increasing its 
speed, the hind-feet straddle to avoid treading on its fore-heels, 
tossing the head and shoulders like a horse about to break from a 
trot to a gallop. It does not leap, but steps without effort over a 
fallen tree, a gate, or a split fence. During its progress, it holds 
the nose up, so as to lay the horns horizontally back. This atti 
tude prevents its seeing the ground distinctly ; and as the weight 
is carried very high upon the elevated legs, it is said sometimes 
to trip by treading on its fore-heels, or otherwise, and occasionally 
to give itself a heavy fall. It is probably owing to this occur- 
rence that the elk was believed by the ancients to have frequent 
attacks of epilepsy, and to be obhged to smell its hoof before it 
rould recover; hence the Teutonic name of /^/enc^ (miserable j, 
and the reputation, especially of the fore-hoofs, as a specific 
against the disease." (Smith.) 

Dr. Richardson gives the following succinct account of their 
habits and food, and of the mode of hunting them. 

*' In the more northern parts the moose-deer is quite a solitary 
animal, more than one bemg very seldom seen at a time, unlesa 
during the rutting season, or when the female is accompanied by 
her lawns. It his the sense of hearing in very great perfection 



HUNTING THE MOOSE. 177 



and is the most shy and wary of all the deer species ; an j on this 
account the art of moose-hunting is looked upon as the greatest 
of an Indian's acquirements, particularly by the Creeks who take 
to themselves the credit of being able to instruct the hunters of 
every other tribe. The skill of a moose-hunter is most tried ir 
the early part of the winter ; for during the summer, the moose, 
as well as other animals, are so much tormented by musquitoes, 
that they become regardless of the approach of man. In iha 
winter the hunter tracks the moose by its foot-marks in the snow, 
and it is necessary that he should keep constantly to leeward o/ 
the chase, and make his advances with the utmost caution, for the 
rusthng of a withered leaf or the cracking of a rotten twig is suffi- 
cient to alarm the watchful beast. The difficulty of approach is 
increased by a habit which the moose-deer has of making daily a 
sharp turn in its route, and choosing a place of repose so near 
some part of its path that it can hear the least noise made by on^e 
that attempts to track it. To avoid this, the judicious hunter, 
instead of walking in the animal's footsteps, forms his judgment 
from the appearance of the country, of the direction it is likely to 
have taken, and makes a circuit to leeward until he again finds 
the track. This manoeuvre is repeated until he discovers, by the 
softness of the snow in the foot-marks, and other signs, that he is 
very near the chase. He then disencumbers himself of every- 
thing that might embarrass his motions, and makes his approach 
in the most cautious manner. If he gets close to the annnal's lair 
without being seen, it is usual for him to break a small twig 
which, alarming the moose, it instantly starts up ; but, not fully 
aware of the danger, squats on its hams, and voids its urine, pre- 
paratory to setting off. In this posture it presents the fairest 
mark, and the hunter's shot seldom fails to take effect in a mortal 
part. In the ructing season the bucks lay aside their timidity, 
and attack every animal that comes in their way, and even con- 
quer their fear of man himself. The hunters then bring them 
within gun-shot by scraping on the blade-bone of a deer and by 
whistling, which, deceiving the male, he bhndly hastens to the 
•pot to assail his supposed rival. If the hunter fails in giving it a 



178 HTTNTINQ ADVENTURES. 



mortal wound as :t approaches, he shelters himself from its f try 
behmd a tree, and I have heard of several instances in which the 
enraged animal has completely stripped the bark from the trunk 
of a large tree by striking with its fore-feet. In the spring-time, 
when the snow is very deep, the hunters frequently run down the 
■noose on snow-shoes. An instance is recorded in the narrative 
of Captain Franklin's second journey, where three hunters pur- 
sued a moose-deer for four successive days, until the footsteps of 
the chase were marked with blood, although they had not yet got 
a view of it. At this period of the pursuit the principal hunter 
had the misfortune to sprain his ankle, and the two others were 
tired out ; but one of them, having rested for twelve hours, set 
out again, and succeeded in kilHng the animal after a further pur- 
suit of two days' continuance. Notwithstanding the lengthened 
chase which the moose can sustain when pursued in the snow, 
Hearne remarks that it is both tender-footed and short-winded ; 
and that, were it found in a country free from underwood, and 
dry under foot, it would become an easy prey to horsemen and 
dogs. The same author informs us that in the summer moose- 
deer are often killed in the water by the Indians who have the 
fortune to surprise them while they are crossing rivers or lakes, 
and that at such times they are the most inoffensive of animals, 
never making any resistance. 

*' The young ones in particular," says he, "are so simple, that 
I remember tc have seen an Indian paddle his canoe up to one of 
them, and take it by the poll, without experiencmg the least oppo- 
sition, the poor harmless animal seeming at the same time as con- 
tented alongside the canoe as if swimming by the side of its dam, 
and looking up in our faces with the same fearless innocence (hat 
a house- lamb would, making use of its fore foot almost every 
instant to clear its eyes of musquitoes, which at that time were 
remarkably numerous. The moose is the easiest to tame and 
domesticate )f any of the deer kind.*' 



HUNTING ANTEL.PES. 



179 




CHAPTER XXXI. 




HUNTINO ANTELOPES WITH THE CHEETAH. 

THE cheetah, or hunting leopard 
is spread extensively throughout 
Africa and India. Mr. Bennett ob- 
serves that '< Chardin, Bernier, Tavei* 
nier, and others of the older travellers, 
had related that in several parts of 
Asia it was customary to make use 
of a large epotted cat in the pursuit 
f game, and that this animal was 
youze in Persia, and cheetah in India ;" but the statements of these 
writers were so imperfect, and the descriptions given by them so 
incomplete, that it was next to impossible to recognize the par- 
ticular species intended. We now, however, know with certainty 
that the animal thus employed is Fells jubata of natumWsts, which 
inhabits the greater part both of Asia and Africa. It is common 
in India and Sumatra, as well as in Persia, and is well known in 
Senegal and at the Cape of Good Hope ; but the ingenuity of the 
savage natives of the latter countries has not, so far as we know, 
been exerted in rendering its services available in the chase, in 
the manner so successfully practised by the more refined and 
civilized inhabitants of Persia and Hir dostan. 

The cheetah differs in one or two places from the typical of 
*ts race. The Felida in general possesses a broad, rounded paw, 



uo 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




THE CHEETAH. 



armed with sharp-hooked and completely retracile claws '^iiich 
are protruded at pleasure ; but in the cheetah the foo being 
narrow, and more hke that of a dog, the claws from the Li[ity of 
the spring-ligatures, are partially retraced and are consequently 
worn and blunted at the points. As large in the body as the 
leopard, the cheetah is superior to that animal in height, and 
differs from it also in general figure. In the first place, the limbs, 
unfitted for chmbing, are long, slender, and tapering, and the 
body, which is deficient in length, reminds one in some degree of 
that of the greyhound. 

The skin of the cheetah is an article of some importance in 
tr»^e in Senegal, but is neglected at the Cape of Good Hope , 
this animal called linpard by the Dutch colonists is indeed rare in 
that district, but the skin is occasionally seen worn by Kaffre chiefs, 
bv vvay of distinction. In Africa, me rude natives never dream 
of employing the cheetah, as a means of procuring food : thev 
know not its value at the chase. In Persia and India, it has, 
however, been employed from an early period. In the * Field 



HUNTING THE ANTELOPE. \6\ 



Sports of India," the mode of coursing with the cheetah is inns 
described. They (the cheetahs), are led out in chains, with 
Winds over their eyes, and sometimes carried out in carts, and 
when antelopes, or deer, are seen on a plain, should any of them 
be separated from the rest, the cheetah's head is brought to face it, 
and the blinds taken off. He immediately crouches, and creeps 
along with his belly almost touching the ground, until he gets 
within a short distance of the deer, who, although seeing him 
approach, appears so fascinated that he seldom attempts to run 
away. 'I'he cheetah then takes a few surprising springs, and 
seizes the deer by the neck. If many deer are near each other, 
they often escape by flight, their number perhaps giving them 
confidence. 

We may add to this, that the cheetah takes advantage of every 
means of making its attack, and that when unsuccessful in its 
effort, it returns sullenly to its keeper, who replaces the hood, and 
reserves him for another opportunity. When, however, he has 
grappled with the quarry and fixed himself upon its throat, drink- 
ing the Ufe-blood warm, his nature breaks out with all its violence, 
so that it requires seme management to separate him from his 
victim. Partly awed by the keeper's voice, partly enticed by 
pieces of meat, and a ladleful of the blood, he is induced to relin- 
quish the prize, and submit to be again hooded. In all this we 
are reminded of the art of falconing. 

In captivity the cheetah is gentle, familiar and playful, h 
becomes greatly attached to those who feed or notice it. The 
disposition of these beautiful creatures is, indeed, frank and con- 
fiding, and consequently there is little trouble in rendering them 
perfectly domestic. Their voice of pleasure is a pur; of uneasi- 
ness or hunger, a short reiterated mew. 




182 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




THE KANGAROO. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



HUNTING THE KANGAROO. 

- -| ^^ UNTING the Kangaroo is an amusement peculiar Co 

New Holland. The followmg sketches of it, are 
from an English periodical. We copy literally. 
These sketches of what may now 



^^^ ^ he considered 

-^ the favorite colonial sport of Australia, have heen 
derived from the Sketch-book of a Settles who was so struck with 
the novelty of the chase, that ^ e has attempted to portray a few of 




VUJSQ A BOOMKE; OB, KANGAEOO HUlfTWO. 



HUNTING THE KANGAROO. 185 



Its oddities. Every one familiar with the writings of Sydney 
Smith will recollect his ludicrous 'portrait of the Kangaroo; ** a 
monstrous animal, as tall as a grenadier, with the head of a 
ralibit, a tail as big as a bedpost, hopping along at the rate ol 
five hops to a mile, with three or four young Kangaroos looking 
out of its false uterus, to see what is passing." 

That extraordinary animal, the Kangaroo, discovered by Captain 
Cook, is now so well known, that a description of it, in addition to 
our illustrations, would be superfluous. Our countrymen pursued 
it in New Holland with greyhounds, and the leaps which it took 
surprised those who beheld it clear obstacles seven or eight feet 
high. In size it equals a sheep, some of the largest weighing 
140lbs ; and the flesh is represented by those who have tasted it 
as being a httle like venison. The tail is said to make rich and 
savory soup. The species breed pretty freely in England, and 
has been kept with success in our parks. 

Of Kangaroos there exist a great variety of different species : 
among the larger ones is the common Kangaroo, called the 
"Forester" and '^ the Old Man" in New South Wales; and 
the red and woolly Kangaroos. They associate together in herds 
of greater or less extent upon the open downs and forests devoid 
of underwood, feed exclusively upon grass and vegetables ; and 
though never fat, are held in high estimation by colonial epicures. 

The native name for the Kangaroo is" boomer ;'^ hence the 
boomerang, the strange-looking, angular implement with which 
the Australians kill the animal ; and the throwing of which has 
puzzled our mechanicians, and amused our boyhood. 

The natives are very cunning in taking the kangaroo. They 
go forth to the chase armed only with a slender spear and a short 
stick ; depending more on their own subtlety and acuteness, 
when in pursuit of wild animals, than on the efficiency of their 
weapons. The scrnb natives go out in large parties, and surround 
their game, drive them towards large nets, in which they become 
entangled. Mr. Angas, in his " Savage Life and Scenes in 
K^ ralia and New Zealand," tells us tha he has seen single 



186 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 

nets of this kind forty feet«^^ length, and curie t sly manufactu -od 
out of the fibres of bulrush ro^ ^. 

Mr. Angas relates , the following interesting picture of the 
chase ; 

** In the hollow valleys bordering upon the scrub we frequently 
put up kangaroos.. These timid creatures, which we disturbed 
while they were feeding, immediately took to the desert; and 
many a famous chase we had after them, over gum bushes and 
the rough surface of the loose hmestone rocks. It is an extra- 
ordinary sight to see so large an animal clearing the bushes, and 
springing high into the air with such astonishing agility. To-day 
we put up a ' boomer ' and a couple of dogs : we took after the 
former, the dogs following close upon his track. Down-hill our 
horses were the losers, the kangaroo gaining on us rapidly by 
his enormous flying leaps ; but at two miles the dogs closed with 
him, and we came up as he stood at bay. He was a noble crea 
ture, and fougir desperately with his fore-paws ; a single kick 
with his hind feet would have laid any one of the dogs dead. It 
was a cruel sight to see the poor beast struggling hard for life 
beneath the bright sky, in his own free deserts ; his large and 
eloquent eyes filled with tears, and his head and shoulders covered 
with blood.' 

The same tourist next gives us the following animated descrip- 
ti6n of a sporting excursion : 

'' About thirty miles to the north-west of Boston Bay is a range 
of mountains called the Marble Range, near which is a beautiful 
lake of fresh water, known as Waungarrie Lake. I started with 
two companions, on horseback, to visit this interesting tract of 
country, which was only known to a few of the settlers, and 
promised to afl^ord good subjects for my pencil. At three miles 
from the settlement we reached ^ the Swamp,' so called from a 
reedy lake adjoining the farm. Several other stations were 
passed, belonging to flock-owners and agricultural settlers, and 
we then struck into a grassy country studded with casuarina and 
Banksia trees. Farther on, the aspect of the scene was very 



HUNTINa THE KANGAROO. 187 

iimilar to that of the districtap^^WK'Mount Beri*<5iT*4i^^^fike 
Hawden, towards Rivoli Bayj^Mere, also, I otserved the bi^uif^ 
tufa, much of which was ^Jf^^^^^'^y F^!l»iJ^^^&*f\? larger tha^ ^ 
a wafer, and lying very thiclfto' scattered over mer^rcm^. We V 
met Smith and Hawson recurnwg^ frcmi hunting in the scrub, each 
with a large kangaroo slung acr^^^h|(Rcsaddle, and their^stock- 
vvhips curled round their shouldersT^^^Ss^ej presented admirable 
examples of full bush costume, in their blue wooflen shirts, with 
appendages of pannikins, tether-ropes, and rifles. We prevailed 
upon them to accompany us ; and the kangaroos and an emu that 
we had killed were planted (to use a colonial term) in the boughs 
of a she-oak tree, to remain in safety until our return. Upon the 
open scrubby plains and the low grassy hills, we observed 
numerous kangaroos. They frequenily appeared in flocks of 
eight or ten at a time, and give constant sport to the dogs. 

*< The rain poured down heavily until near sunset, when it 
cleared off, and we were amply rewarded for our ride by the 
enchantmg prospect before us. The mountains of the Marble 
Range, rising abruptly, and presenting their steep sides of quartz 
to the evening sun, sparkled in its rays as <;hough inlaid with 
diamonds ; and a richly verdant country stretched out all around, 
scattered with park-hke trees, in the centre of which, surrounded 
by green banks of velvet turf, lay Waungarrie Lake. The calm 
surface of the water mirrorred the sunset clouds, and was 
besprinkled with multitudes of black swans ; while some kangri- 
roos were quietly feeding near the water, undisturbed by dogs or 
savages, for no traces of the natives were discernible. 

"My companions had already built a tolerably snug shelter of 
boughs for the night, and we sat down in front of it, with our 
pannikins of tea, around a blazing fire, busied in roasting kangaroo 
steaks upon the ashes. The night was mild, with thunder and 
lightning. This country, which is entirely uninhabited, would 
afford an excellent district for sheep or cattle, and I know of no 
situation more enticing for a settler's homestead, in the neighbor* 
hood oi Port Lincoln, than the banks of Waungarrie Lake." 



18S 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




CHAPTER XXXIII. 




A FRENCH OFFICER HUNTING LIONESSES. 

HE following narrative js 
from the French Journal 
des Chasseurs, to which it 
was contributed by Mr. 
Jules Gerard, as a remi- 
niscence of his service in 
Algeria : 
.\\wviriL-»ir^ -^^^5-x-^=-^- — :-j.-^ fv-r^ "I knew cf a lar^e old 

M.„.i.«x..i ^ <^ ^.^^v^x.^..-.^ ^■c-^^s^L^s, hon m the Smauls coun- 
try and betook myself in that direction. On arriving I heard that 
he was in the Bonarif, near Batnah. My te... '-^ ~ not yet pitched 
at the foot of the mountain, when I learned that . -vs at the 
Fed Jong, where, on my arrival, I found that he had gained the 
Aures. After travelling one hundred leagues in ten days in the 
trace of my brute without catching a ghmpse of anything but his 
foot-prints, I was gratified on the night of the 22d of August with 
the sound of my lord's voice. I had established my tent in the 
valley of Ouslen. As there is only one patn across this thickly 
covered valley, I found it an easy task to discover his track and 
follow it to his lair. At six o'clock in the evening I alighted upon 
t hillock commanding a prospect of the country around. 1 was 
ftccompanied by a native of the country and my spahi, one carry- 
aig my carbine, the other my old gun. As I had anticipated, th6 



HUNTING THE LIONESS. 189 



.ion roared under cover at dawn of day ; but instead of advancing 
toward me, he started off in a westerly direction at such a pace 
that it was impossible for me to come up with him. 1 retraced 
my steps at midnight and took up my quarters at the foot of a 
tree upon the path which the lion had taken. The country about 
this spot was cleared and cultivated. The moon being favorable, 
the approach of anything could be descried in every direction. I 
mstalled myself and waited. Weary after a ride of several hours 
over a very irregular country, and not expecting any chance that 
night, I enjoined my spahi to keep a good watch, and lay down. 
I was just about to fall asleep when I felt a gentle pull at my 
burnous. On getting up I wis able to make out two lions, sitting 
one beside the other, about one hundred paces off, and exactly on 
the path in which I had taken up my position. At first I thought 
we had been perceived, and prepared to make the best of this dis- 
covery. The moon shed a light upon the entire ground which 
the hons would have to cross in order to reach the tree, close to 
which all within a circumference of ten paces was completely 
dark, both on account of the thickness of the tree and the shadow 
cast by the foliage. My spahi, like me, was in range of the 
shadow, while the Arab lay snoring ten paces off in the full light 
of the moon. There was no doubting the fact — it was this man 
who attracted the attention of the Hons. I expressly forbade the 
spahi to wake up the Arab, as I was persuaded that when the 
action was over he would be proud of havmg served as a bait even 
without knowing it. I then prepared my arms and placed them 
against the tree and got up, in order the better to observe the 
movements of the enemy. They were not less than half an hour 
traversing a distance of one hundred metres. Although the 
ground was open, I could only see them when they raised their 
heads to make sure that the Arab was stiJl there. They took 
advantage of every stone and every tuft of grass to renaer iheni- 
selves almost mvisible ; at last the boldest of them came up crouch* 
mg on his belly to within ten paces of me and fifteen of the Arab 
His eye was fixed en the latter, and with such an expression thai 
I "'as afraid I had waited too long. Tho second, who had stayec? 



190 HTTNTrN-G ADVENTURES. 



a few paces behind, came and placed himself on a leve. with an'' 
about four or five paces from the first. I then saw for the first 
time that they were full-grown lionesses. I took aim at the first, 
and she came rolling and roaring down to the foot of the tree. 
The Arab was scarcely awakened when a second ball stretched 
the animal dead upon the spot. The first bullet went in at the 
muzzle and came out at the tail; the second had gone through 
the heart. After making sure tliat my men were all right, I 
looked out for the second lioness. She was standing up within 
fifteen paces, looking at what was going on around her. I took 
my gun and leveled it at her. She squatted down. When I 
fired she fell down roaring, and disappeared in a field of maize on 
the edge of the road. On approaching I found by her moaning 
that she was still alive, and did not venture at night into the thick 
plantation which sheltered her. As soon as it was day I went to 
the spot where she had fallen, and all I found were blood-marks 
showing her track in the direction of the wood. After sending 
the dead honess to the neighboring garrison, who eelebrated its 
arrival by a banquet, I returned to my post of the previous night. 
A little after sunset the Hon roared for the first time, but instead 
of quitting his lair he remained there all night roaring hke a mad- 
man. Convinced that the wounded lioness was there, I sent on 
the morning of the 24th, two Arabs to explore the cover. They 
returned without daring to approach it. On the night of the 24th 
there was the same roaring and complaining of the lion on the 
mountain and under cover. On the 25th, at five in the evening, 
[ had a young goat muzzled, and proceeded with it to the moun- 
tain. The lair was exceedingl}^ difficult of access. Nevertheless 
[ succeeded at last by crawling now on my hands and now on my 
belly in reaching it. Having discovered certain indications of the 
presence of the inhabitants of this locality, I had the goat un- 
muzzled and tied to a tree. Then followed the most comical 
panic on the part of the Arabs, who were carrying my arms. 
Seeing the]iij:*^.lves in the middle of the lion's lair, whom they 
could distinctly smell, and hearing the horrified goat calling them 
with all ts might, was a position perfectly intolerable to them 



HUNTING LIONESSES. 



191 



After consulting together as to whether it were better lo ciimb up 
a tree or clamber on a rock, they asked my permission to remain 
near the goat. This confidence pleased me and obtained them 
the privilege of a place by my side. I had not bee-n there a 
quarter of an hour when the lioness appeared ; she found herself 
suddenly beside the goat, and looked about her with an air of 
astonishment. I fired, and she fell without a struggle. The 
Arabs were already kissing my hands, and I myself believed her 
dead, when she got up again as though nothing was the matter, 
and showed us all her teeth. One of the Arabs who had run 
^ward her was within six paces of her. On seeing her get up 
ne clung to the lower branches of the tree to which the goat was 
tied, and disappeared like a squirrel. The honess fell dead at the 
foot of the tree, a second bullet piercing her heart. The first had 
passed out of the nape of the neck without breaking the skull 
bone. 




192 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




iS^j^^^ 




THS JAOITAR. 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

HUNTING THE JAGUAR. 

HE Jaguar is the largest and most formidaole 
among the Cats of the New World, in the warmer 
regions of which he exercises the same crael 
tyranny as the Lions, and Tigers, and the Leo» 
pards, of the burning chmates of the Old. He 
appears to be almost universally spread over the southern division 
of the American comment from Paraguay to Guiana ; but there 
is no satisfactory proof of his having been observed to the north 
of the Isthmus of Panama. In the neighborhood of inhabited 
places he is daily becominf: more and more rare, the r;ivages 
which he commits upon the flocks, and the high price that 13 
given for his skin, forming a double incentive to his destruction. 
His habits and manners are almost precisely the same as those of 
the other large animals of his tribe ; but he is spoken of as even 
m(;re indolent and cowardly. Like them he generally watches 
for his prey in a concealed ambush, whence he darts upon it 
unawares, bearing it at once to the earth by his great musculaf 



HUNTING THE JAGUAR. l93 



Strength, and depriving it of all power of resistance cr of flight. 
Occasionally, however, when urged by hunger, he prowls abroad 
more openly, and will even venture to attack man ; but rarely if 
he tinds him on his guard. M. Sonnini relates that one annoyed 
h'm and his party for two successive nights, during his travels in 
Guiana, constantly hovering about them, watching an opportunity 
f()r falling on his prey, but retreating into the bushes the moment 
he perceived himself observed, and disappearing with such 
rapidity that it was impossible to get a shot at him. According 
to the same author and to M. D'Azara, these animals climb with 
great dexterity, swim with almost equal skill, and are able to 
carry cJ the bodies of their victims, even of the largest quadru- 
peds, such as horses and oxen, to a place of security where they 
can sat'ate their appetites without risk of disturbance. The 
natives of Paraguay have a bold .and singular mode of hunting 
the Jaguar. The hunter folds his pouch round his left arm, by 
way of shield, and taking a spear m his right hand, fearlessly 
assails him in his lair, and generally with success. 




13 



194 



HUNTING ADVENTUR3S. 




THE GNOO. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



HUNTING THE GNOO. 

MONG modem hunters Mr. Roualeyi 

Gordon Gumming deserves the high- 
est rank. He has just published a 
work entitled " Five years of a 
Hunter's Life in the Far Interior of 
South Africa," which gives the most 
thrilling and entertaining narratives 
i ©f his hunting the animals of tha/ 
^" region, such as the Lion, Elephant 
Giraffe, Rh-'noceros, Hippopotamus 
dnd the various kinds of antelopes with which the country abounds 
To indulge in his favorite pursuit without restraint he gave 
up his commission in the British army, and bought a train of 
vagons at one of the towns near the Cape of Ciood Hope, 




HUNTING THE GNOO. 195 




THE HARTEBEEST. 

and taking with him a supply of articles of trade an { a traiit 
of Hottentots, Bushmen, and Dutchmen, he set off into the 
interior on a trading and hunting expedition. This was repeated 
five times in five successive years, and the result was his obtain- 
ing about thirty tons of trophies of the chase, which he carried to 
liondon, where he exhibited them as proofs of the truth of hia 
story. 

We shall copy freely from his book. The reader will observe 
that he uses certain peculiar terms, such as trek, to travel with 
wagons ; inspan, to yoke the oxen and attach them to the wagons ; 
outspan, to unyoke and loose the oxen ; spoor, the track of a wild 
animal ; &c. 

The following is his account of hunting the Gnoo and the 
Hartebeest, and of the peculiar habits of the African Wild Dogs. 

On the morning of the 12th I rode northeast with attendants, 
and after proceeding several miles through an open country we 
entered a beautiful forest of cameeldorn trees, and rode along 
beneath a range of steep rocky hills. The country gave me the 
idea of extreme antiquity, where the hand of man had wrought 
no change since the Creation. In a finely wooded broad valley 
or opening among the hills, we fell in with a magnificent herd of 
about sixty blue wildebeests. As they cantered across the grassy 
sward tossing their fierce-looking, ponderous he^ds, their shaggjf 



196 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



manes and long, black, bushy tails streaming in the breeze, the^ 
presented an appearance at once striking and imposing; and to a 
stranger they conveyed rather the idea of buffaloes than anything 
belonging to the antelope tribe, to which, indeed, wildebeests, both 
black and white, are but remotely aUied, nothwithstanding the 
classification of naturahsts. 

About midnight on the 16th, weary with tossing on my restless 
couch, 1 arose, and taking my two-grooved rifle, a pillow, and a 
blanket, I held for my shooting-hole beside the fountain. The 
remainder of the night was very cool, with a southerly breeze 
At dawn I looked from my hole, and, seeing no game approach- 
ing, I rolled my blanket tight around me and tried to sleep. Id 
this manner I had lain for about half an hour, when I was suddenly 
startled by a large, heavy animal galloping past within six feet of 
me. I at once knew that it must be either some beast which had 
oeen coming to drink and had got my wind, or one hunted, which, 
according to the custom of deer and the larger antelopes, had 
rushed for refuge to the water in its distress. In the latter con- 
jecture I was right ; for, on cautiously peeping through the stones 
which surrounded my hole, t had the pleasure to behold a fine 
bull brindled gnoo dash into the waters of the fountain within forty 
yards of me, and stand at bay, followed by four tearing, fierce- 
looking wild dogs. All the four had their heads and shoulders 
covered with blood, and looked savage in the extreme. They 
seemed quite confident of success, and came leisurely up to the 
bull, passing within a few yards of me, their eyes glistening with 
ferocious glee. 

My anxiety to possess this fine old bull, and also a specimen of 
the wild dog, prevented my waiting to see more of the fun. I 
deliberated for a few seconds whether I would shoot the bull fii^l 
or one of the hounds, and ended by shooting the gnoo and the 
largest hound right and left. The bull, on receiving the ball, 
bounded out of the fountain ; but suddenly wheehog about, he 
re-entered it, and staggering violently for a moment, subsided in 
its vaters. The hound got the bullet through his heart, and 
springing forward from his comrades, instantly measured his 



HUNTING THE GNOO. 19" 



ength upon the gravel. I then quickly reloaded my rifle, lyin<3 
on my side ; a proceeding which, I may inform those who have 
not yet tried it, is rather difficult to accomplish. While I waa 
thus occupied the three remaining hounds reluctantly withdrew, 
and described a semicircle to leeward of me for the purpose o 
obtaining my wind, and more correctly ascertaining the cause of 
their discomfiture. Having loaded, I re-opened my fire, and 
wounded another, when they ail made off. 

I could not help feeling very reluctant to fire at the jolly hounds. 
The whole affair remined me so very forcibly of many gallant 
courses I had enjoyed in the Scottish deer-forest with my own 
noble deer-hounds, that I could not divest myself of the idea that 
those now before me deserved a better recompense for the masterly- 
manner in which they were pursuing their desperate game. 
One hound, in particular, bore a strong expression of dear old 
Factor in his face, a trusty stag-hound bred by myself, whose 
deeds, though not renowned in verse like Ossian's Oscar and 
Liiath, were perhaps little inferior either in speed or prowess to 
those famed m ancient song. 

Having summoned my men, and with considerable difficulty 
dragged the ponderous carcass of the old bull out of the water, 
we found that he had been cruelly lacerated by the hounds. It 
appeared to me that they had endeavored to hamstring him. 
His hind legs, haunches, and belly were dreadfully torn ; he had 
iost half his tail, and was otherwise mutilated. Poor old bull ! 
I could not help commiseratins: his fate. It is melancholy to 
reflect that, in accordance with the laws of nature, such scenes of 
pain must ever be occurring ; one species, whether inhabiting 
eartht air, or ocean, being produced to become the prey of another. 
At night I watched the water, with fairish moonlight, and shot a 
large spotted hyaena. 

I continued here hunting hartebeests until the 21st, when I 
inspanned at an early hour, and trekked due east until sundown, 
when I halted near a small fountain of fine water, having per- 
formed a march of about twenty-five miles. Our road lay through 
a wi*J, uninhabited country, producing sweet grass in abundance, 



19^ 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




A WILD DOG. 



fcut destitute of water. On the morning of tne 22d, hav.ng 
breakfasted, I road southwest, with after riders, and found the 
g^me abundant, but wild and shy, having been recently hunted 
by Boers. 

The wild dogs, or " wilde honden,*' as they are termed by 
Dutch Boers, are still abundant in the precmcts of the Cape 
colony, and are met with in great numbers throughout the 
interior. These animals invariably hunt together in large 
organized packs, varying in number from ten to sixty, and by, 
their extraordinary powers of endurance, and mode of mutuaJ 
assistance, they are enabled to run into the swiftest, or overcome 
the largest and most powerful antelope. I have never heard of 
their attacking the buffalo, and I believe that the animal pursued 
in the present instance is the largest to which they give battle. 
Their pace is a long, never-tiring gallop, and m the chase they 
relieve one another, the leading hounds falling to the rear when 
iatigued, when others, who have been husbanding their strength, 
»ome up and relieve them. Having succeeded in bring!. ig then 



HABITS OF THE WILD DOG. 199 



^jUarry to bay, they all surround him, and he is irr.nediaiel},' 
dragged to the ground, and in a few minutes torn to pieces and 
ccnsumed. They are of a bold and darmg disposition, and do 
not entertain much fear of man, evincing less concern on his 
approach than any other carnivorous animal with which 1 am 
acquainted. On disturbing a pack, they trot leisurely along 
before the intruder, repeatedly halting and looking back at him. 
The females bring forth their young in large holes, in desolate 
open plains. These burrows are connected with one another 
under ground. When a troop of wild dogs frequentmg those 
holes observe a man approaching, they do not, as might be sup- 
posed, take shelter in the holes, but, rather trusting to their speed, 
they rush forth, even though the intruder should be close upon 
them, and retreat across the plain ; the young ones, unless very 
weak, accompany them. The devastation occasioned by them 
among the flocks of the pastoral Dutch Boers is inconceivable. 
It constantly happens, that when the careless shepherds leave 
their charge in quest of honey or other amusement, a pack of 
these marauders comes across the defenceless flock. A sangui- 
nary massacre in such cases invariably ensues, and incredible 
numbers of sheep are killed and wounded. The voracious pack, 
not content with killing as many as they can eat, follow resolutely 
on, tearing and mangling all that come within their reach. Their 
voice consists of three different kinds of cry, each bemg used on 
special occasions. One of these cries is a sharp, angry bark, 
usually uttered when they suddenly behold an object which they 
cannot make out. Another resembles a number of monkeys chat- 
tering together, or men conversing while their teeth are chattering 
violently from cold. This cry is emitted at night when large 
numbers of them are together, and they are excited by any parti 
cular occurrence, such as being barked at by domestic dogs 
The third cry, and the one most commonly uttered by them, is 
a sort of rallying note to bring the various members of the pack 
together when they have been scattered in following several 
individuals of a troop of antelopes. It is a peculiarly soft, melodi- 
ous cry, yet, nevertheless, it may be distinguished at a g^reat 



200 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



distance. It very much resembles the second note uttered by thp 
euckoo which visits England during the summer months, and, 
when heard in a calm morning echoing through the distant wood- 
lands, it has a very pleasing effect. They treat all domestic dogs, 
however large and fierce, with the utmost scorn, wailing to '^ceive 
their attack, and then, clannishly, assisting one another, they 
generally rend them in pieces. The domestic dogs most cordially 
reciprocate their animosity, and abhor their very voices, at what 
distance soever heard, even more than that of the lion, starting to 
their feet, and angrily barking for hours. This interesting though 
destructive animal seems to form the connecting hne betweer th« 
wolf and t^e hyaena. 




HUNTING THE OSTRICE 



203 




CHAPTER XXXVI. 




HUNTIly<a THE OSTRICH, THE WILDEBEEST, AND THE ORYX. 
OLLOWING Mr. Gumming in his dash* 
ing career, we next extract his account 
of the mode of hunting the Ostrich 
among the Bushmen, and his own hunt- 
ing of the beautiful oryx. 

A favorite method adopted by the wild 
Bushman for approaching the ostrich 
and other varieties of game, is to clotha 
himself in the skin of one of these birds, 
in which, taking care of the wind, he 
stalks about the plain, cunningly imi- 
tating the gait and motions of the ostrich 
until within range, when, with a well-directed poisonti arrow 
from his tiny bow, he can generally seal the fate of any of the 
ordinary varieties of game. These insignificant-looking arrows 
are about two feet six inches in length ; they consist of a slender 
reed, with a sharp bone head, thoroughly poisoned with a compo 
sition, of which the principal ingredients are obtained sometimes 
from a succultnt herb, having thick leaves, yielding a poisonous 
milk}^ juice, and sometimes from the jaws of snakes. The bow 
barely exceeds three feet in length ; its string is of twisted sinews 
When a Bushman finds an ostrich's nest, he enscones himself in 
it, ind there awaits the return of the old birds, by which meana 
he generally secures the pair. It is by means of these httle arrowa 



^(J4 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




THE ORYX. 

that the majority of the fine plumes are obtained which grace thf 

heads of the fair throughout the civiHzed world. 

It was now the height of summer, and every day the heat of 
the sun was terri^c, but there was generally a breeze of wind, 
and the nights were cool. Our vley was daily decreasing, and 
1 saw that, unless we were visited by rains, it would soon be 
no more. On the morning of the 22d I had rather an absurd 
adventure with a porcupine, which cost me my pack-saddle, the 
only thing of the sort I had in camp. Long before day-break I 
saddled up, and rode north with my two after-riders and a spare 
horse with the pack-saddle. As day dawned I came upon a 
handsome old porcupine, taking his morning airing. At hrst 
sight he reminded me of a badger. Unwilling to discharge my 
rifle, as. it was probable that we were in the vicinity of oryx, I 
resolved to attempt his destruction with the thick end of my 
" jambok," the porcupine, like the seal, being easiVy killed with a 
blow on the nose. I jumped ofl^ my horse, and after a short race, 
ir« which I tried him with many turns, when he invariably doubled 
bftck between my legs, giving me the full benefit of his bristhng 



HUNTING THE ORYX. 2(/5 

qmlls, I succeeded in killing him with the jambok, but not till I 
had received several wounds in my hands. My boys the while 
sat grinning in their saddles, enjoying the activity of their '' baas." 

Having coyered him with bushes, we rode on, and shortly came 
upon an immense, compact herd of several thousand migrating 
springboks, which were exceedingly tame, and in the middle of 
them stood two oryx. These we managed for the first time to 
drive in a southerly direction, being that in which the camp lay ; 
and, after a sharp and rather circular burst, 1 headed the finer and 
bowled her over. She proved to be a young cow about three 
years old. Having disemboweled her, and prepared her for the 
pack-saddle with a couteau-de-chasse, by splitting the brisket, 
passing the knife along the gristly bones on one side of it, and 
breaking tks back by a dexterous touch of the knife, where cer- 
tain ribs well known to the hunter join the vertebrae, whereby the 
animal can more easily be balanced on the pack-saddle, we suc- 
ceeded with great difficulty in placing her on " Sunday," and 
rode slowly for the place where we had left the porcupine. We 
placed him on the oryx, and secured him with a rheim, but we 
had not proceeded far when some of the quills pricked the steed, 
upon which he commenced bucking and prancing in the most 
frantic manner, which of course made matters ten times worse, 
causing the porcupine to beat the devil's tattoo on his back. The 
gemsbok's head, also, which, being a poor one, I had not cut ofl 
unfortunately got adrift, and kept dangling about his haunches, 
the sharp horns striking his belly at every spring. He broke 
loose from Jacob, who led him, and set off across the country at a 
terrific pace, eventually smashing the pack-saddle, but still failing 
to disengage himself from the gemsbok, whose hind and fore feet, 
being fastened together, slipped round under his belly, impeding 
his motions, and in this condition he was eventually secured, 
being considerably lacewted about the haunches by the horns of 
the oryx. 

Next day Cobus and I fell in with the finest bull oryx I had yei 
met, which, after a severe chase, we rode into and slew. or 
some evenings previous a large bright comet had appeared in the 



206 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



southwest, having a tearing, fiery tail, which .strange meteor to 
.he best of my recollection, shone brightly in the clear firmament 
for five or six weeks. We lived well, but lonelily. My camp 
abounded with every delicacy — tongues, brains, marrow-bones, 
kidneys, rich soup, with the most delicious venison in the world, 
&c., &c., and a constant supply of ostrich eggs. The 25th was 
cool and cloudy, being the first day that the sky had been overcast 
si'ace I had left the Thebus Flats. 

In the afternoon I resolved to ride far into the oryx country, 
sleep under a bush, and hunt them on the following morning. I 
accordingly left my wagons about 3 P. M., with my two after- 
riders and a spare horse, and rode about fifteen miles in a northerly 
course, when we secured our horses to a bush, to leeward of which 
we slept. On my way thither I dismounted on an arid plain to 
breathe our steeds and dig up some bulbs of the water-root* for 
immediate consumption, my thirst being very severe. While 
cantering along we passed several troops of hartebeests and 
ostriches, and late in the day I observed a small troop of oryx. 

* This interesting root, which has doubtless saved many from dying of thirst, 
is met with throughout the most parched plains of the Karroo. It is a large oval 
bulb, varying from six to ten inches in diameter, and is of an extremely juicy 
consistence, with rather an insipid flavor. It is protected by a thin brown skin, 
which is easily removed with the back of a knife. It has small, insignificant 
narrow leaves, with little black dots on them, which are not easily detected by 
an inexperienced eye. The ground round it is so baked with the sun that it has 
to be dug out with a knife. The top of the bulb is discovered about eight or nine 
inches from the surface of the ground, and the earth all round it must then be 
carefully removed. A knowledge of this plant is invaluable to him whose avoca- 
tions lead him into these desolate regions. Throughout the whole extent of the 
great Kalahari desert, and the vast tract of country adjoining thereto, an immense 
variety of bulbs and roots of this juicy description succeed one another monthly, 
there being hardly a season in the year at which the poor Bakalahari, provided 
with a sharp-pointed stick hardened in the fire, can not obtain a meal, being inti- 
mately acquainted with each and all the herbs and roots which a bountiful hand 
has provided for his sustenance. There are also several succulent plants, having 
thick, juicy leaves, which in like manner answer the purpose of food and drink. 

Above all, a species of bitter water-melon is thickly scattered over the entire 
surface of the known parts of the great Kalahari desert. These often supply the 
place of food and water to the wild inhabitants of those remote regions, and it is 
stated hy the Bakalahari that these melons improve in flavor as they penetrate 
further to the west. Most of these roots are much eaten by the gemsboks, which 
Brs led by instinct to root them out. The elephants also, apprised by their acuta 
•cose of smell of their position, feed upon them, and whole tracts may be s«en 
plowed uo bv the tusks of these sagacious animals, in quest of them 



HUNTING THE SPRINGBOK. 



20? 




THE SPRINGBOK. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

HUNTING THE SPRINGBOK AND THE QUAGGA. 

NDOUBTEDLY, Mr. Cum. 

minfrs' descriptions of hunting 
scenes in Africa are among the 
liveliest, freshest, and most gra- 
phic "incidents of travel" which 
have yet appeared. The fol- 
lowing is his account of spring- 
bok and quagga hunting. 

On the morning of the 9th, 
Strydom and I having resf Ived 
over night to go in quest of a 
troop of ostriches which his Hottentot reported, frequenting th^ 
plains immediately adjacent to the Thebus Mountain, we stt»rted 
our Hottentots two hours before the dawn of day ; and after on 
early breakfast we saddled up, and rode direct for the Thebja 
Mountain. This remarkable mountain, which I shall ever remem 
ber as ihe leading feature on the plains where I first really com- 
menced my African hunting, is of pecuhar shape, resembling » 




208 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



3one depressed at the apex, and surmounted by a round tower. 
It is also remarkable as being considerably hig^her tian the sur- 
rounding mountains, with which the plains are bounded and inter* 
sef'ted. As we rode along, a balmy freshness pervaded the 
morning air. We passed through herds of thousands of spring- 
boks, with small herds of wildebeest scattered among them. I fired 
two or three very long shots without success. Slrydom, however, 
was more fortunate. He fired into a herd of about a hundred 
bucks at three hundred yards, and hit one fine old buck right in 
the middle of the forehead, the ball passing clean through his 
skull. We hid him in a hole in the ground, and covered him 
with bushes, and then rode on to our Hottentots, whom we found 
waiting beside a small fountain in a pass formed by a wide gap in 
a low range of hills, situated between two extensive plains which 
were thickly covered with game. I took up my position in a 
bush of rushes in the middle of the pass, and remained there for 
upward of eight hours, during which our boys were supposed to 
be endeavoring to drive the game toward us. 

The Boer took up the best pass about a quarter of a mile to mj 
right. Before we had been an hour at our passes, the boys drove 
up four beautiful ostriches, which came and stood within fifty 
yards of Strydom, but, alas ! he was asleep. About this time I 
was busy trying to remembei and practice a childish amusement 
which once delighted me as much as rifle-shooting — namely, 
making a cap of rushes, when, on suddenly lifting up my eyes, I 
saw standing within eighty yards of me about a dozen beautiful 
springboks, which were coming up to the pass behind me. I 
snatched up my rifle, and, lying flat on my breast, sent a bullet 
through the best buck in the troop, smashing his shoulder. He 
ran about fift}- yards, and fell dead. I unfortunately left him 
lying exposed in the path, the consequence of which was thai 
three other troops of springboks, which were coming up as h« 
had come, were turned to the right about by his carcase. 

It was amusing to see the birds and beasts of prey assembling 
to dispute the carcase with me. First came the common black and 
white carrion crow, then the vultures ; the jackals kne'v the cry of 



flUNTINQ THE QUAGGA. 20& 

rtie niltures, and they too came sneaking from the'r hid;'ng'' places 
in the rocks and holes of the ant-bear in the plains to share in the 
f«ast, while I was obliged to remain a quiet spectator, not daring 
to move, as the game was now in herds on every side of me, and 
I expected to see ostriches every moment. Presently a herd of 
wildebeest came thundering down upon me, arid passed within 
shot. I put a bullet into one of these, too far behind the shoulder 
which, as is always the case with deer and antelopes, did not 
seem to affect him in the shghtest degree. In the afternoon we 
altered our positions, and sent the boys to drive the plain beside 
which I had been sitting all day. The quantity of bucks which 
were now before our eyes beat all computation. The plain ex- 
tended, without a break, until the eye could not discern any object 
smaller than a castle. Throughout the whole of this extent were 
herds of thousands and tens of thousands of springboks, inter- 
spersed with troops of wildebeest. The boys sent us one herd 
of about three hundred springboks, into which Strydom let fly at 
about three hundred yards, and turned them and all the rest. 

It was now late in the day, so we made for home, taking up the 
buck which Strydom had shot in the morning. As we cantered 
along the flats, Strydom, tempted by a herd of sprino-boks, which 
were drawn up together in a compact body, jumped off his horse, 
and, giving his ivory sight an elevation of several feet, let drive at 
them, the distance being about five hundred yards. As the troop 
bounded away, we could distinguish a light-colored object lying in 
the short heath, which he pronounced to be a springbok, and on 
going up we found one fine old doe lying dead, shot through the 
spine. This day, and every day since I arrived at these flats, I 
was astonished at the number of skeletons and well-bleached skulls 
with which the plains were co'-'ered. Thousands of skulls of 
springbok and wildebeest were strewed around wherever the 
hunter turned his eye. The sun was extremely powerful all day 
but, being intent on the sport, I did not feel it until I found m} 
legs burned ; my dress, as usual, was the kilt, with a gray stalk 
mg-cap. On reaching home the following day, a large party of 
oatives, belonging to the chief Moshesh, anived on the farm 

14 



210 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



These poor men were travelling in quest of employment. Num 
bers of natives annually visit the colony, and work for the Boers, 
making stone enclosures for their cattle, and large dams or em« 
bankments across little streams in the mouths of valleys, for the 
purpose of collecting water in the rainy season for the supply of 
their flocks and herds during the protracted droughts of summer. 
They are paid for their labor with young cows or she-goats. The 
recent rains having washed away the embankment of a dam 
situated in a distant range of hills, on the borders of the farm, 
Strydom engaged these men to repair it. The vicinity of thr dam 
being a favorite haunt for quaggas, and it being necessary that 
Strydom should go there on the morrow, we resolved to hunt in 
the neighboring district, in which were situated some high and 
rugged hills. Accordingly, next day, we sallied forth, and I 
ascended to one of their highest pinnacles, where I managed to 
snoot a rhode-raebok. Joining Strydom shortly afterward, we 
tiunted over another range of the same hills, where we fell iu 
with three quag^gas and other game. 




TBI QVAOQA. 



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ill 



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liiiiiiillllll 



it 



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'ii'iiiiHiliiiliiliiiliiiiiiiiliMiiliiiiii'ri'Miiii'iiiiiiiiiiiuuiiil): 



HUNTING THE AFRICAN BUFFALO. 



2ii 




THE PALLAH. 

CHAPTER XXXVIIL 

HUNTING THE AFRICAN BUFFALO AND PALLAH. 

TOARLY on the 4th, says Mr. Gumming, we inspanned anj 
(LS continued our march for Booby, a large party of savages stilj 
following the wagons. Before proceeding far I was tempted by 
the beautiful appearance of the country to saddle horses to hum 
in the mountains westward of my course. I directed the wagons 
to proceed a few miles under guidance of the natives, and there 
await my arrival. I was accompanied by Isaac, who was mounted 
on Old Gray, and carried my clumsy Dutch rifle of six to the pound 
Two Bechuanas followed us, leading four of my dogs. Having 
crossed a w^ell-wooded strath, we reached a little crystal river 
whose margin was trampled down with the spoor of a great 
variety of heavy game, but especially of bufl^alo and rhinoceros 
We took up the spoor of a troop of buflaloes, which we {ollowed 



214 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



aiong a path made by the heavy beasts of the forest th fough a 
neck in the hills ; and, emerging from the thicket, we beheld, on 
the other side of a valley which had opened upon us, a herd of 
about ten huge bull buffaloes. These I attempted to stalk, but was 
defeated by a large herd of zebras, which, getting our wind, 
charged past and started the buffaloes. I ordered the Bechuanas 
to release the dogs ; and spurring Colesberg, which I rode for the 
first time since the afl^air with the lioness, I gave chase. The 
buffaloes crossed the valley in front of me, and made for a succes- 
sion of dense thickets in the hills to the northward. As they 
crossed the valley, by riding hard I obtained a broadside shot at 
the last bull, and fired both barrels into him. He, however, con- 
tinued his course, but I presently separated him, along with two 
other bulls, from the troop. My rifle being a two-grooved, which 
is hard to load, I was unable to do so on horseback, and followed 
with it empty, in the hope of bringing them to bay. In passing 
through a grove of thorny trees I lost sight of the wounded buf- 
falo ; he had turned short and doubled back, a common practice 
^ith them when wounded. After following the other two at a 
hard gallop for about two miles, I was riding within five yardb of 
their huge broad sterns. They exhaled a strong bovine smell, 
which came hot in my face. I expeced every minute that they 
would come to bay, and give me time to load ; but this they did 
not seem disposed to do. At length, finding I had the speed of 
them, I increased my pace ; and going ahead, I placed myself 
light before the finest bull, thus expecting to force him to stand at 
bay ; upon which he instantly charged me with a low roar, very 
similar to the voice of a lion. Colesburg neatly avoided the 
charge, and the bull resumed his northward course. We now 
entered on rocky ground, and the forest became more dense as 
we proceeded. The buflfaloes were evidently making for some 
strong retreat. 1, however, managed with much difficulty to 
hold them in view, following as best I could through thorny 
thickets. Isaac rode some hundred yards behind, and kept shout- 
ing to me to drop the pursuit, or I should be killed. At last the 
buffaloes suddenly pulled up, and stood at bay in a thicket within 



HUNTING THE PALLAH. 215 



ifTtsnty yards of me. Springing from my horse, I hastily loaded 
my two-grooved rifle, which I had scarcely completed when Isaac 
rode up and inquired what had become of the buffaloes, little 
dreaming that they were standing within twenty yards of him. 1 
answered by pointing my rifle across his horse's nose, and letting 
fly sharp right and left at the two buffaloes. A headlong charge, 
accompanied by a muffled roar, was the result. In an instant I 
was round a clump of tangled thorn trees ; but Isaac, by *he 
violence of his efforts to get his horse in motion, lost his balance 
and at the same instant, his girths giving way, himself, his saddle, 
and big Dutch rifle, all came to the ground together, with a heavy 
crash, right in the path of the infuriated buffaloes. Two of the 
Jogs, which had fortunately that moment joined us, met them in 
their charge, and, by diverting their attention, probably saved 
Isaac from instant destruction. The buffaloes now took up another 
position in an adjoining thicket. They were both badly wounded 
blotches and pools of blood marking the ground where they had 
stood. The dogs rendered me assistance by taking up their atten- 
tion, and in a few minutes these two noble bulls breathed their 
last beneath the shade of a mimosa grove. Each of them, in 
dying, repeatedly uttered a very striking, low, deep moan. This 
I subsequently ascertained the buffalo invariably utters when in 
the act of expiring. 

On going up to them, I was astonished to behold their size and 
powerful appearance. Their horns reminded me of the rugged 
trunk of an oak tree. Each horn was upward of a foot in breadth 
at tne base, and together they effectually protected the skull with 
a massive and impenetrable shield. The horns, descending, and 
spreading out horizontally, completely overshadowed the animal's 
eyes, imparting to him a look the most ferocious and sinister that 
can be imagined. On my way to the wagons I shot a stag 
sassayby, and while I was engaged in removing his head a troop 
of about thirty doe pallahs cantered past me, followed by one 
prmcely old buck. Snatching p my rifle, I made a flue shot 
40 d rolled him over in the gra»^. 



216 



HUirriNG ADVENTURES, 




THE FALCON. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 




HUNTING AND HAWKING IN PERSIA. 

^IR JOHN MALCOLM, in his deiightfu 
Sketches of Persia, has given some very 
Jivel}^ descriptions of sporting scenes in 
that romnntic country. In order to under- 
stand the following extract from his book, 
the reader must recollect that Sir John 
himself is the Elchee or ambassador from 
England, of whom he speaks as of another person. 

We were kept several weeks at Abusheher ; and among other 
amusements by which we beguiled the tedium of our sojourn at 
this dull sea-port, Ave re those of hunting and hawking; which, 
according to the Nimrods of our party, are nowhere found iu 
greater perfection : but as the mode of killing the game differs 
essentially from that of other countries, I shall describe it, that 
such sportsmen as can read may judge of its merits. 

The huntsmen proceed to a large plain, or rather desert, near 
the sea-side : they have hawks and greyhounds ; the former 
carried in the usual manner, on the hand of the huntsman ; th« 



HUNTlJSt* AND HAWKING IN PERSIA. 21' 




PERSIAN GREYHOUND. 



latter led In a leash by a horseman, generally the same who ( arriea 
the hawk. When the antelope is seen, they endeavor to get as 
near as possible ; but the animal, the moment it observes them, 
goes off at a rate that seems swifter than the wind ; the horsemen 
are instantly at full speed, having slipped the dogs. If it is a 
single deer, they at the lime fiy the hawks ; but if a herd, they 
wait till the dogs have fixed on a particular antelope. The hawks, 
skimming along near the ground, soon reach the deer, at whose 
nead they rmw^^e in succession, and sometimes with a violence 
that knocks tnvv'^'^'' ^^ ^^^ events, they confuse the animal so 
much as to stoj.its speed in such a degree that the dogs can come 
up ; and m nstant men, horses, dogs, and hawks, surround 

the aafortunate deer, against which their united efforts have been 
combined. The part of the chase that surprised me most was 
the extraordinary ^combination of the hawks and the dogs, which 
throughout seemed to look to each other for aid. This, I was 
told, was the result of long and skilful training. 

The antelope is supposed to be the fleetest quadruped on earth, 
and the rapidity of the first burst of the chase I have described is 
astonishing. The run seldom exceeds three or four miles, and 
often it is not half so much. A fawn is an easy victory ; the doe 
often runs a good chase, and the buck is seldom taken. The 
Arabs are, indeed, afraid to fly their hawks at the latter, as these 
nne birds, in pouncing, frequently impale themselves on its sharp 
hoins. 

The hawks used in this sport are of a species that i have never 



■ns 



HTTNTINa ADVEXTURP^. 




PERSIAN ANTELOPE. 



•een in any other country. This breed, which is c.illed CherKhi 
IS not large, but of great beauty and symmetry. 

Another mode of running down the antelope is practised here, 
and still more in the interior of Persia. ' ^ '^: iu/ iHe highest 
rank lead their own greyhounds in a Ic •i'^-iven sh, which 
passes through the collar, and is ready tc '-' -:Jf-ri{t oment the 
huntsman chooses. The well-trained dog g, nfs .->ngside the 
horse, and keeps clear of him when at full speed, and m all LiUds 
of country. When a herd of antelopes is seen, a consultation is 
held, and the most experienced determine the point towards which 
they are to be driven The field (as an English sportsman would 
term it) then disperse, and while some drive the herd in the de- 
sjred direction, those with the dogs take their post on the same 
hne, at the distance of about a mile from each other ; one of the 
worst dogs is then slipped at the herd, and from the moment he 
singles out an antelope the whole body are in motion. The object 
of the horsemen who have greyhounds is to intercept its course, 
and to slip fresh dogs, in succession, at the fatigued animal. In 
rare instances the second dog kills. It is generally the third or 
fourth ; ana even these, when the deer is strong, and the grouno 
Ckvoi^ble. often fail. This sport, which is very rxhilaraiing, wan 



HUNTING AND HAWKING IN PERSIA. 219 



the delight of the late King of Persia, Aga Mahomed Khan, 
whose taste is inherited by the present Sovereign. 

The novelty of these amusements interested me, and I was 
pleased, on accompanying a party to a village, about twenty miles 
(rom Abusheher, to see a species of hawking, pecuhar, I believe, 
to the sandy plains of Persia, on which the Hubara,* a noble 
epecies of bustard, is found on almost bare plains, where it has no 
shelter but a small shrub called geetuck. When we went in 
quest of them we had a party of about twenty, all well mounted. 
Two kinds of hawks are necessary for this sport ; the first, the 
cherkh (the same which is flown at the antelope), attacks them on 
the ground, but will not follow them on the wing ; for this reason, 
tne Bhyree, a hawk well known in India, is flown the moment the 
hubara rises. 

As we rode along in an extended line, the men who carried the 
cherkhs every now and then unhooded and held them up, that 
they might look over the plain. The first hubara we found 
afforded us a proof of the astonishing quickness of sight of one of 
the hawks; ^ ed to be loose, and the man who held him 

gave a wb irew him off his hand, and set off at full 

speed. "V ne same. At first we only saw our hawk 

skimmm^ ^ ^ plain, but soon perceived, at a distance of 

more than a mile, the beautiful speckled hubara, with his head 
erect, and wings outspread, running forward to meet his adver- 
sary. The cherkh made several unsuccessful pounces, which 
were either evaded or repelled by the beak or wings of the hubara, 
which at last found an opportunity of rising, when a bhyree was 
instantly flown, and the whole party were again at full gallop. 
We had a flight of more than a mile, when the hubara aliorhted, 
and was killed by another cherkh, who attacked him on the 
ground. This bird weighed ten pounds. We killed several 

* The Hubara usually weighs from seven to eleven pounds. On its head is a 
tuft of black and white feathers; the back of the head and neck are spotted black j 
the side of the head and throat are white, as well as the under part of the bodj'; 
the breast is slate-colored ; the feathers of the wing are greenish-brown, speckled 
with lihick; the bill of a very dark-grey ; and on each side of the neck is a large 
And handsome tuft of feathers, black and white alternately. 



iJ20 HI7WTING ADVENTUR158. 




Others, but were not always successful, having seen our ha ivka 
twice completely beaten during the two days we followed th s fine 
sport. 

The inhabitants of the country over which we hunted are all 
Arabs. They hve, like their brethren in other parts, almost 
entirely on camels' milk and dates. Their care appears limited 
to the preservation of the animal and the propagation d^ the tree, 
which yield what they account the best of this w-rld's luxuries ; 
and these not only furnish this lively race of me:; with food, but 
with almost all the metaphors in which their language abounds. 
Of this we had an amusing instance : amongst others who accom- 
panied the Eichee on this sporting expedition was a young officer, 
who measured six feet seven inches : he, like others, had lain 
down to take an hour's repose, between our mornmg and evening 
hunt. An old Arab, who was desired to awake him, smiling, 
said to his servant, " Entreat your date tree to rise." We had a 
hearty laugh at our friend, who was not reconciled to this com- 
parison of his commanding stature to the pride of the desert. 

If we were amused by the field-diversiims of the Persians and 
Arabs, they were equally so with our mode of hunting. The 
Eichee had brought a few couples of English fox-hounds, intend- 
ing them as a present to the heir-apparent, Abbas Meerza. With 
Uiis small pack we had several excellent runs. One morning we 
killed a fox, after a very he. '"d chase ; and while the rest of Um 



'fiUlJTING AND HAWKING IN PERSIA. 



221 




FOX. 



party <\ ire exulting in their success, cutting off poor reynard's 
brush, praising the hounds, adding some two feet to a wall theii 
horses had cleared, laughing at those who had got tumbles, and 
recounting many a hair-breadth escape, I was entertained by 
listening to an Arab peasant, who, with animated gestures, was 
narrating to a group of his countrj^men all he had seen of this 
noble huut. "There went the fox," said he, pointing with a 
crooked stick to a clump of date trees ; " there he went at a greal 
rate ; I hallooed, and hallooed, but nobody heard me, and I thought 
he must get away ; but when he was quite out of sight, up came 
a large spotted dog, and then another and another ; they ail had 
their noses on the ground, and gave tongue, whow, whow, whow, 
so loud that I was frightened : — away went these devils, who 
soon found the poor animal ; after them galloped the Faringees*, 
shouting and trying to make a noise louder than the dogs : no 
wonder they killed the fox among them ; but it is certainly fine 
sport. Our Shaikh has no dogs like these." This last remark 



♦ Farinoee, wnicb is a corruption of Frank, is the name given to as £tux>peaa 
^♦T*'- all Asia. 



222 HUNTING ADVENTURES 



was assent^a u by all present, and the possession of a breed of 
dogs, which their Shaikh had not, added not a little, m the eyei 

of those peasants, to the character of the mission. 

♦ ♦ * * * ,|f 

Some gentlemen had accompanied the mission whose chief 
object was to see Persepolis and other remains of ancient splen- 
dor. These motives were unintelligible to the Persians. The 
day we left the ruins, Aga Meer, as we were riding together, ex- 
pressed his surprise at men devoting their time to such pursuits. 
" What can be the use," said he, " of travelling so far and rumiing 
so many risks to look at ruined houses and palaces, when they 
might stay so comfortably at home ?" I replied with some feehng 
of contempt for my friend's love of quiet, " If the state of a man's 
circumstances, or that of his country, does not find him work, he 
must find it for himself, or go to sleep and be good for nothing. 
Antiquaries," I continued, " to whose praiseworthy researches 
you allude, by directing, through their labors and talents, our 
attention to the great names and magnificent monuments of former 
days, aid in improving the sentiments and taste of a nation. Be- 
sides, though no antiquary myself, I must ever admire a study 
which carries man beyond self. I love those elevating thoughts 
•that lead me to dwell with delight on the past, and to look forward 
with happy anticipations to the future. We are told hy some 
that such feelings are mere illusions, and the cold, practical phi- 
losopher may, on the ground of their inutility, desire to remove 
them from men's minds, to make way for his own machinery ; 
but he could as soon argue me out of my existence as take from 
me the internal proof which such feehngs convey, both as to my 
origin and destination." 

" There goes a Goor-kher" (wild ass), said Mahomed Beg, the 
Jelloodar,* who was riding close behind ; and away he galloped. 
Away I galloped also, leaving unfinished one of the finest speeches 
about the past and the future that was ever commenced. 

We pursued the goor-kher several miles, when we gave up the 
•hase as hopeless. Oi our return, however, we founil plenty ol 

* Persian ^oom. 



HUNTING AND HAWKING IN PERSIA. 223 



Other game ; five hares were killed by our dogs and three by 
hawks. When at Sfe^'raz, the Elchee had received a present of a 
very fine Shah-Baz, or x^yal falcon. Before going out I had been 
annused at seeing Nutee Beg, our head falconer, a man of great 
experience in his department, put upon this bird a pair of leathers, 
which he fitted to its thighs with as much care as if he had been 
the tailor of a fashionable horseman. I inquired the reason of so 
unusual a proceeding. '* You will learn that," said the cons**- 
quential master of the hawks, "when you see our sport:" and I 
was convinced, at the period he predicted, of the old fellow's 
knowledge of his business. 

The first hare seized by the falcon was very strong, and the 
ground rough. While the bird kept the claws of one foot fastened 
in the back of its prey, the other was dragged along the ground 
till it had an opportunity to lay hold of a tuft of grass, by which 
it was enabled to stop the course of the hare, whose efforts to 
escape, I do think, would have torn the hawk asunder, if it had 
not been provided with the leathern defences which have been 
mentioned. 

The next time the falcon was flown, gave us a proof of that 
extraordinary courage which its whole appearance, and par- 
ticularly its eye, denoted. It had stopped and quite disabled the 
second hare by the first pounce, when two greyhounds, which 
had been slipped by mistake, came up, and endeavored to seize it. 
They were, however, repulsed by the falcon, whose boldness and 
celerity in attacking the dogs and securing its prey excited our 
admiration and astonishment. 

We had some excellent sport with smaller hawks and part- 
ridges. I was particularly pleased with one bird which kept 
hovering over our heads till the game was sprung, and then de- 
scending like a shot, struck its prey to the ground. 




^24 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




LION, LIONESS AND CUBS. 



CHAPTER XL. 



SHOOTING A LION FROM A WATCHING PLACE. 

^^NE of Mr. Cummings' mrxJes of 
ii Ji hunting in Africa, was to have a 
hole dug near a fountain or piece of 
water, and concealing himself in it, to 
wait for the approach of the wild 
animals who would resort to it to drink 
The following extract from his book 
shows the success of this stratagem 
On the afternoon of the 3d of Sep 
tember I watched the fountain. Toward sunset one blue wilde- 
beest, six zebras, and a large herd of pallahs were all drinking 
before me. I lay enjoying contemplation for at least fifteen 




HUNTING A LION. 227 



minutes, and most of them having slaked their thirst, I sent a 
ball through the heart of the best headed pallah. I then took a 
long shot at the blue wildebeest bull, and sent the other ball into 
his shoulder. I now came to the camp, and ordered the pallah 
to be placed in front of my hole beside the water, to attract the 
lions. Having taken my coffee, I returned to the water with 
Kleinboy and Mollyee. It was bright moonlight. We had 
scarcely lain down, when the terilble voice of a lion was heard 
a little to the east ; the jackals were feasting over the remains of 
the white rhinoceros of yesterday, and only one or two occasionally 
came and snuffed at the pallah. Presently a herd of zebras, 
accompanied by elands, approached the water, but were too timid 
to come in and drink : a troop of wild dogs now came boldly up, 
and were walking off with the pallah, when I fired into them. 
They made off, but immediately returning and again seizing my 
pallah, I fired again, and wounded one of them. 

Soon after we had lain down a thundering clattering of hoofs 
was heard coming up the vley, and on came an immense herd of 
wildebeest. They were very thirsty, and the leading cow very 
soon came boldly up and drank before me. I sent a ball through 
her ; she ran sixty yards up the slope behind me, and fell dead. 
Her comrades then thundered across the vley, and took up a 
position on the opposite rising ground. In two minutes the 
hyaenas and jackals had attacked the carcass of this wildebeest. 
Soon after this a lion gave a most appalling roar on the bushy 
height close opposite to us, which was succeeded by a death-like 
stillness which lasted for nearly "a minute. I had then only one 
shot in my four barrels, and I hastily loaded the other barrel of 
my Westley Richards, and withr breathless attention kept the 
strictest watch in front, expecting every moment to see the mighty 
and terrible king of beasts approaching ; but he was too cunning 
He saw all the other game fight shy of the water, so he made a 
circuit to leeward to get the wind off the fountain. Soon after he 
roared I heard a number of jackals bothering him, as if telling 
him .0 come across the vley to the wildebeest : he growled from 
side to side, as if playing with them, and after this all was stiU» 



228 ' HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




JACKAL. 

I had listened with intense anxiety for about fifteen min'i es 
longer, when I heard the hyaenas and jackals give way on either 
side behind me from the carcass of the wildebeest, and, turning 
my head slowly round, beheld a huge and majestic hon, with a 
black mane which nearly swept the ground, standing over the 
carcass. He seemed aware of my proximity, and, lowering his 
head, at once laid hold of the wildebeest and dragged it seme 
distance up the hill. He then halted to take breath, but did not 
expose a broadside, and in a quarter of a minute he again laid 
hold of the wildebeest and dragged it about twelve yards further 
toward the cover, when he again raised his noble head and halted 
to take breath. 

I had not an instant to loose ; he stood with his rig'nt side 
exposed to me in a very slanting position ; I stretched my left 
arm across the grass, and, taking him rather low, fired ; the ball 
took effect, and the lion sank to the shot. All was still as death 
for many seconds, when he uttered a deep growl, and, slowly 
gaining his feet, limped toward the cover, roaring mournfully as 
he went. When he got into the thorny bushes he siumbled 
through them as he moved along, and m half a minute I heard 
him halt and growl fearfully, as if dying. 1 hod now every reason 
to believe that he was either dead or would dit immediately, and 
that if I did not seek him till the morning I knew very well that 
the hyaenas and jackals would destroy him. I accordingly went 
up to camp, and, having saddled two horses, I and Martin rode ta 
seek him, taking all the dogs, led in strings by the natives. On 
reaching the carcass of the wildebeest we slipped the dogs, and 



HUNTING A LION. 



229 



.hev went off after the hyaenas and jackals: we listened in vain 
for the deep growl of the lion, but I was persuaded that he was 
dead, and rode forward to the spot where I had last heard him 
growl. Lassie, now coming up, commenced barking at a bush 
m front of me, and, riding round, I had the immense satisfaction 
lo behold the most magnificent old black-maned lion stretched out 
before me. 

The ball had entered his belly a little before the flank, and 
traversed the length and breadth of his body, crippling him in the 
opposite shoulder. No description could give a correct idea of 
he surpassing beauty of this most majestic animal, as he lay still 
warm before me, 1 lighted a fire and gazed with delight upon 
his lovely mane, his massive arms, his sharp yellow nails, his 
hard and terrible head, his immense and powerful teeth, his 
perfect beauty and symmetry throughout ; and I felt that I had 
won the noblest prize that this wide world could yield to a sports- 
man. Having about fifteeen natives with me, I sent for rheimi 
and the iechter-uit, and we bore the lion to camp. 




230 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




CHAPTER XLL 



BUNTING THE LEOPARD WITH DOGS, AND ADVENTURES Will 
BUFFALOES AND LIONS. 

N the morning of the 22d, say» 
Mr. Gumming, I rode into 
camp, after unsuccessfully fol- 
lowing the spoor of a herd of 
elephants for two days in a westerly course. 
Having partaken of some refreshment, I 
saddled up two steeds and rode down the 
bank of Ngotw^ani with the Bushman, tc 
seek for any game I might find. After 
riding about a mile along the river's green 
bank, I came suddenly upon an old male leopard, lying under the 
shade of a thorn grove, and panting from the great heat. Although 
I was within sixty yards of him, he had not heard the horse's 
tread. I thought he was a h"oness, and, dismounting, took a rest 
m my saddle on the Old Gray, and sent a bullet into him. He 
sprang to his feet, and ran half way down the river's bank, and 




HUNTING THE LEOPARD, ETC. 231 

Blood to look about him, when I sent a seconc bi Ilet into his 
person, and he disappeared over the bank. The ground being 
very dangerous, I did not disturb him by following then, but I at 
once sent Ruyter back to camp for the dogs. Presertly he 
returned with Wolf and Boxer, very much done up with ti.e sun. 
I rode forward, and on looking over the bank the leopard started 
up and sneaked off alongside of the tall reeds, and was instantly 
out of sight. I fired a random shot from the saddle to encourage 
the dogs, and shouted to them ; they, however, stood looking 
stupidly round, and would not take up his scent at all. I led 
them over his spoor, again and again, but to no purpose ; the dogs 
seemed quite stupid, and yet they were Wolf and Boxer, my two 
best. 

At length I gave it up as a lost affair, and was riding down the 
river's bank, when I heard Wolf give tongue behind me, and, 
galloping back, found him at bay with the leopard, immediately 
beneath where I had fired at him ; he was very severely wounded, 
and had slipped down into the river's bed and doubled back, 
whereby he had thrown out both the dogs and myself. As I 
approached he flew out upon Wolf and knocked him over, and 
then, running up the bed of the river, took shelter in a thick bush: 
Wolf, however, followed him, and at this moment my other dogs 
came up, having heard the shot, and bayed him fiercely. He 
sprang out upon them, and then crossed the river's bed, taking 
shelter beneath some large tangled roots on the opposite bank. 
As he crossed the river I put a third bullet into him, firing from 
the saddle, and as soon as he came to bay, I gave him a fourth, 
which finished him. This leopard was a very fine old male, 
in the conflict the unfortunate Alert was wounded, as usual, 
getting his face torn open ; he was still going on three legs, with 
all his breast laid bare by the first water-buck. 

In the evening I directed my Hottentots to watch a fine poo! 
m the river, and do their best while I rode to a distant pool 
Beveral miles up the Ngotwani, reported as very good for game, 
to he all night and watch : my Totties, however, fearing '' Tao," 
disobeyed me. On reaching the water I was bound for, I found i • 



232 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



very promising, and, having fastened my two horses to a tret 
beneath ihe river's bank, I prepared a place of conceahnent cose 
by, and lay -lown for the night. 

The river's banks on each side were clad with groves of shady 
thorn trees. After I had lain some time, squadrons of buffaloes 
were heard coming on, until the shady grove on the east bank of 
the water immediately above me was alive with them. After 
some time the leaders ventured down the river's bank to drink, 
and this was the signal for a general rush into the large pool of 
wrter: they came on like a regiment of cavalry at a gallop, 
making a mighty din, and obscuring the air with a dense cloud of 
dust. At length I sent a ball into one of them, when the most 
tremendous rush followed up the bank, where they all stood still, 
Hstening attentively. I knew that the buffalo was severely 
wounded, but did not hear him fall. Some time after I fired at a 
second, as they stood on the bank above me ; this buffalo was also 
hard hit, but did not then fall. A little after I fired at a third on 
the same spot; he ran forty yards, and, falling, groaned fearfully: 
this at once brought on a number of the others to butt their dying 
comrade, according to their benevolent custom. I then crept in 
toward them, and, firing my fourth shot, a second buffalo ran for- 
ward a few yards, and, falhng, groaned as the last ; her comrades, 
coming up, served her in the same manner. A second time I 
crept in, and, firing a fifth shot, a third buffalo ran forward, and 
fell close to her dying comrades : in a few minutes all the otner 
buffaloes made off, and the sound of teeth tearing at the flesh was 
heard immediately. 

I fancied it was the hyasnas, and fired a shot to scare them from 
the flesh. All was still ; and, being anxious to inspect the heads 
of the buffaloes, I went boldly forward, taking the native who 
accompanied me along with me. We were within about five 
yards of the nearest buffalo, when I observed a yellow mass lying 
alongside of him, and at the same instant a lion gave a deep growl. 
I thought it was all over with me. The native shouted "Tao," 
and, springing away, instantly commenced blowing shrilly througn 
a charmed piete of bone which he wore on his necklace. I 



ADVENTURE WITH A LION. 233 



ictreated to the native, and we tnen knelt down. The lion con* 
tinued his meal, tearing away at the buffalo, and growling at his 
wife and family, who, I found next day by the spoor, had accom- 
panied him. Knowing that he would not molest me if I left him 
alone, I proposed to the native to go to our hole and lie down, but 
he would not hear of it, and entreated me to fire at the lion. I 
fired three difl^erem shots where I thought I saw him, but without 
any effect; he would not so much as for a moment cease munch 
ing my buffalo. I then proceeded to lie down, and ^'as soon 
asleep, the native keeping watch over our destinies. Some time 
after midnight other lions were heard coming on from other airts, 
and my old friend commenced roaring so loudly that the native 
thought it proper to wake me. 

The first old lion now wanted to drink, and held right away for 
the two unfortunate steeds, roaring terribly. I felt rather alarmed 
for their safety ; but, trusting that the lion had had flesh enough 
for one night, I lay still, and listened with an attentive ear. In a 
few minutes, to my utter horror, I heard him spring upon one of 
the steeds with an angry growl, and dash him to the earth ; the 
steed gave a slight groan, and all was still. I listened to hear the 
sound of teeth, but all continued still. Soon after this " Tao" was 
once more to be heard munching the buffalo. In a few minutes 
he came forward, and stood on the bank close above us, and roared 
most terribly, walking up and down, as if meditating some mis- 
chief. I now thought it high time to make a fire, and, quickly 
collecting some dry reeds and httle sticks, in half a minute wo 
had a cheerful blaze. The Hon, which had not yet got our wind> 
came forward at once to find out what the dense was up ; but, not 
seeing to his entire satisfaction from the top of the bank, he waa 
proceeding to descend hj a game-path into the river-bed within a 
few yards of us. I happened at the very moment to go to this 
spot to fetch more wood, and, being entirely concealed from the 
lion's view above by the intervening high reeds, we actually met 
^ce to face ! 

The first notice I got was his sudden spring to one side, accom' 
panied by repeated angry growls, while I involuntarily made a 



234 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 

convulsive spring backward, at the same time giving a ftarful 
shriek, such as I never before remember uttering. I fancied just 
as he growled that he was coming upon me. We now heaped on 
more wood, and kept up a very strong fire until the day dawned, 
the lions feasting beside us all the time, notwithstanding the remon- 
strances of the little native, who, with a true Bechuana spirit 
lamenting the loss of so much good flesh, kept continually shoul 
ing and pelting them with flaming brands. 

The next morning, when it was clear, I arose and inspected the 
buffaloes. The three that had fallen were fine old cows, and two 
of them were partly consumed by the lions. The ground all 
around was packed flat with their spoor; one particular spoor was 
nearly as large as that of a borele. I then proceeded to inspect 
the steeds : the sand around them was also covered with the h'on's 
spoor. He had sprung upon the Old Gray, but had done him no 
further injury than scratching his back through the skin : perhaps 
the lion had been scared by the rheims, or, on discovering hif 
•pare condition, had preferred the buffalo. 




ADVEXTURE WITH A 6NAKE< 



235 




A PYTHON. 



CHAPTER XLIL 



MR. CUMMINGS ADVENTURE WITH A SNAKE. ^ 

N the 25th, after breakfast, I started with bea 
ding and provisions to hunt for a few days on 
the other side of the hills. We visited the 
first water, and established a place of conceal- 
ment with rocks and green boughs on the rock. 
While we were making this bothy a wild boai 
hove in view, but, observing us, he escaped* 
We then held on to the further ravine, and on my way thither I 
nearly rode down a fine old bastard gemsbok, which got away 
among the rocks. I repaired an old hiding-hole at this water 




236 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



Duildmg it up with fragments of rock. I then sent the steeds to a 
proper distance, put out my fire, and lay down to watch for the 
night. 

First came a pallah, closely followed by a wild dog. The 
pallah escaped ; the wild dog presently returned, and, observing 
my retreating men, barked loudly ; ten minutes after, about eight 
wild dogs came up the glen and drank. Night now set in, and 
the moonlight very faint. Presently an occasional loud displace- 
ment of rock and stone announced the approach of large game : it 
was two old buffaloes ; they came and drank, and went away 
without approaching within shot. Soon after, fourteen buffaloes 
came ; but before these had finished drinking, they got an alarm, 
and charged panic-stricken up the rugged mountain side. They 
had winded two lions, which came up to the fountain head, and 
drank within eighteen yards of me, where they lay lapping loudly, 
and occasionally halting for four or five minutes, but, from their 
light color and the masses of rock that surrounded them, I could 
not see to fire. About ten minutes after they had drunk I fanciea 
that they were stili lingering, and on throwing a stone their step 
was heard retreating among the dry leaves and stones. 

Soon after this six old bufl^aloes approached from a glen behind 
us : they walked very slowly, standing long to listen. When 
the leader came up to within twenty yards of us, Kleinboy and I 
fired together ; it ran thirty yards, and in two minutes fell. His 
comrades, after considering the matter for five minutes, came on 
once more : we again took the leader, and he also dropped. His 
comrades, as before, retreated, but, soon returning, we wounded a 
third, which we did not get. The moon was now under, and it 
was very dark ; the buffaloes, however, were determined to try it 
on once more, and coming up a fourth and last time, we shot 
another old bull. In about ten minutes lions were very busy on 
the carcase of the first buffalo, where they feasted till morning, 
taking another drink before they went away. Toward daybreak 
we wounded a white rhinoceros, and soon after two black rhinoce- 
Toses fought beside us, but I was too sleepy to rise. 

On the 26th I rose at earliest dawn to inspect the heads of the 



ADVENTURE WITH A SNAKE. 259 



thrpe old buffaloes ; they were all enormous old buL^s, and one of 
them carried a most splendid head. The lions had cleaned out 
all his ent tiis : their spoor was immense Having taken some 
ouffalo breast and liver for breakfast, I dispatched Ruyter to the 
wagons to call the natives to remove the carcases, while I and 
Kleinboy held through the hills to see what game might be in the 
next glen which contained water. On our way thither we started 
a fine old buck koodo, which I shot, putting both barrels into him 
at one hundred yards. As I was examining the spoor of the game 
by the fountain, I suddenly detected an enormous old rock-snake 
steahng m beneath a mass of rock beside me. He was truly an 
enormous snake, and, having never before dealt with this species 
of game, I did not exactly know how to set about capturing him. 
Being very anxious to preserve his skin entire, and not wishing 
to have recourse to my rifle, I cut a stout and tough stick about 
eight feet long, and having hghtened myself of my shooting-belt, 
I commenced the attack. Seizing him by the tail, I tried to get 
him out of his place of refuge; but I hau'.ed in vain; he only 
drew his large folds firmer together ; I could not move him. At 
length I got a rheim round one of his folds about the middle of 
his body, and Klemboy and I commenced hauhng away in good 
earnest. 

The snake, finding the ground too hot for him, relaxed his coils, 
and, suddenly bringing round his head to the front, he sprang out 
at us like an arrow, with his immense and hideous mouth opened 
to its largest dimensions, and before I could get out of his way he 
was clean out of his hole, and made a second spring, throwing 
nimself forward about eight or ten feet, and snapping his horrid 
fangs within a foot of my naked legs. I sprang out of his way, 
and, getting a hold of the green bough I had cut, returned to the 
charge. The snake now glided along at top speed ; he knew the 
ground well, and was making for a mass of broken rocks, where 
he would have been beyond my reach, but before he could gain 
this place of refuge I caught him two or three tremendous whacks 
on tne head. He, however, held on, and gained a pool of muddy 
Welter, which he was rapidly crossing, when I again belabored 



uo 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




ZEURA. 



him, and at length reduced his pace to a stand. We then hanged 
him by the neck to a bough of a tree, and in about fifteen nttnutei 
he seemed dead, but he again became very troublesome during 
the operation of skinning, twisting his body in all manner of ways. 
This serpent measured fourteen feet.* 

At night no game visited the water, being scared by the strong 
smell of the carrion. Lions, however, were so numerous that we 
deemed it safe to shift a position we had taken down the glen, for 
they trotted past within twenty yards of us, growhng fearfully. 
We fired off" the big gun to scare them for the moment while we 
shifted to our baggage at the fountain head, where we instantly 
lighted a large fire. The lions, for a short time after this, kept 
quiet, when they again returned, and the fire being low, they soon 
commenced upon the buffalo the natives had left within fifty yards 
of us, and before morning two of them came up and looked into 
our bothy, when Boxer, giving a sharp bark, and I suddenly 
awaking and popping up my head, they bounded off. 

• This snake was probably a Python, a large snake common iu A&ica. 



ADVENTURE WITH A SNAKE. 24J 



In the evening of the 28th I shot an old bull koodo. At niglA 
r watched the water near my camp with Kleinboy. After a long 
time had elapsed, an enormous old bull muchoco or white rhino- 
ceros came sJowly on, and commenced drinking within fifteen 
yards of us, and next minute a large herd of zebras and blue 
wildebeest. It was long before the muchoco would turn his side ; 
when he did, we fired together, and away he went with zebra* 
and wildebeests concealed in a cloud of dust. Next came an oM 
bull borele ; we fired together, and he made ofl^, blowing loudly, 
after charging round and round, seeking some object on which to 
wreak his vengeance. Next came another borele, and he got two 
bullets into his person. The fourth that came was another old 
bull muchoco ; he ran forty yards and fell. And fifth came a cow 
bortle ; she fell dead to the shots. Three other rhinoceroses 
came about me, but I was too drowsy to watch any longer, and 
fell asleep. 

These fountains afl^orded me excellent shooting for about a fort- 
night longer, during the whole of which time I watched nightly 
in my different hidmg-holes, and bagged buffaloes, rhinoceroses, 
koodoos, zebras, and other game. One night, while so engaged, 
t horrid snake, which Kleinboy had tried to kill with his loading- 
rod, flew up at my eye, and spat poison into it. Immediately I 
washed it well out at the fountain. I endured great pain al' 
Bi{rM, but next day th'j eye came all right 




t42 



HUNTING ADVENTURSa. 




:p-^ 



BLESBOK. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 



HUNTING THE 




^^m 



BLESBOK AND BOAR. 

THE blesbok, says Mr. Cum* 
ming, in his manners aiid 
habits, very much resembles the 
springbok, which, however, it 
greatly exceds in size, being as 
large as an English fallow-deer 
It is one of the true antelopes, ^nd 
all its movements and paces par- 
take of the grace and elegance 
pecuhar to that species. Its color 



a similar to that of the sassayby, its skin being beautifully painted 
with every shade of purple, violet, and brown. Its belly is of the 
purest w^ite, and a broad white band, or " blaze," adorss the entirt 
lanfTth of its fane. Blesboks differ from springboks in the determined 



HUNTING THE BLESBOK. ^iZ 



and in/ariable manner in which they scour the plains, riglit in th* 
wind's eye, and also in the manner in which they carry their noses 
close along the ground. Throughout the greater part of the yeai 
they are very wary and difficult of approach, but more especially 
when the does have young ones. At that season, when one herd is 
disturbed, and takes away up the wind, every other herd in vie^v 
follows them ; and the alarm extending for miles and miles down 
the wind, to endless herds beyond the vision of the hunter, a con- 
tinued stream of blesboks may often be seen scouring up wind foi 
upward of an hour, and covering the landscape as far as the eye 
can see. The springboks, which in equal numbers frequent the 
same ground, do not, in genera], adopt the same decided course aa 
the blesboks, but take away in every direction across the plains, 
sometimes with flying bounds, beautifully exhibiting the long» 
snowy- white hair with which their backs are adorned, and at 
others walking slowly and carelessly out of the hunter's way, 
scarcely deigning to look at him, with an air of perfect independ- 
ence, as if aware of their own matchless speed. 

The black wildebeests, which also thickly cover the entire 
length and breadth of the blesbok country, in herds averaging 
from twenty to fifty, have no regular course, fike the blesboks. 
Unless driven by a large field of hunters, they do not leave their 
ground, although disturbed. Wheeling about in endless circles, 
and performing the most extraordinary variety of intricate evolu- 
tions, the shaggy herds of these eccentric and fierce-looking ani- 
mals are forever capering and gamboling round the hunter on 
every side. While he is ridmg hard to obtain a family shot of a 
herd in front of him, other herds are charging down wind on hia 
right and left, and, having described a number of circular move- 
ments, they take up positions upon the very ground across which 
the hunter rode only a few minutes before. 

Singly, and in small troops of four or five individuals, the old 
bull wildebeests may be seen stationed at intervals throughout the 
plains, standing motionless during a whole forenoon, coolly watch- 
ing with a philosophic eye the movements of the other game, 
eternally uttering a loud snorting noise, and also a short, sharp 



244 HUNTING ADVENl'UKES. 



cry which is peculiar to them. When the hunter approachet 
these old bulls, they commence whisking their long while tails in 
a most eccentric manner ; then suddenly springing into the air, 
they begin prancing and capering, and pursue each other in 
circles at their utmost speed. Suddenly they all pull up together 
to overhaul the intruder, when two of the bulls will often commence 
fighting in the most violent manner, dropping on their knees at 
every shock : then quickly wheeling about, they kick up their 
heels, whirl their tails with a fantastic flourish, and scour across a 
plain enveloped in a cloud of dust. 

Throughout the greater part of the plains frequented by bles 
boks, numbers of the sun-baked hills or mounds of clay formed by 
the white ants occur. The average height of the ant-hills, in 
these district, is from two to three feet. They are generally dis- 
tant from one another from one to three hundred yards, being 
more or less thickly placed in different parts. These ant-hills are 
of the greatest service to the hunter ; enabling himself with facility 
to conceal himself on the otherwise open plain. By means of 
them I VTOS enabled to hide, and select out of the herds the bucks 
and bulls carrying the finest heads, for my collection. 

On the 28th, having breakfasted, I rode forth with two after- 
riders to try for blesboks, and took up positions on the plain, lying 
flat on my breast behind ant-hills, while my after-riders, one of 
whom led my horse, endeavored to move them toward me. We 
found the blesboks abundant, but extremely wary. I wounded 
several, but did not bag one. I, however, shot two springboks, 
which were fat, and whose flesh we stood much in need of. I 
hud several chances of wildebeests, but I had lesolved not to fiie 
at them. 

The following day was the 1st of March. After an early break- 
fast I again took the field, with my after-riders and a spare horse 
There was thunder and lightning on all sides, and I expected the 
day vrould set in wet : it all passed over, however, with a few 
showers, and the weather was delightfully cool. I lay behind 
ant-hills, while my men, extending to the right and left, endeavored 
to drive the game toward me. Late in the day I bagged a fiiia 



HUNTING THE BLESBOK. 246 



old blesbok : it was a family shot, running at two hundred yards, 
I also shot a springbok, and mortally wounded another ; b( th were 
very long shots. 

The blesbok is one of the finest antelopes in the world, and ii 
allowed to be the swiftest buck in Africa. He, nevertheless 
attains very high condition, and at this period was exceedingly 
fat. I was surprised and delighted with the exquisite manner in 
which his beautiful colors are blended together. Nothing can 
exceed the beauty of this animal. Like most other African ante 
lopes, his skin emitted a most delicious and powerful perfume of 
flowers and sweet-smelling herbs. A secretion issues from be- 
tween his hoofs which has likewise a pleasing perfume. 

The 3d was a charmingly cool day. At an early hour in the 
morning I was visited by a party of Boers, some of whom I had 
previously met. They were proceeding to hunt wildebeest and 
blesbok, and were mounted on mares, each of which was followed 
by a foal. They requested me to join them in their "jag," but 
I excused myself, preferring to hunt alone. Having partaken 
largely of my coffee, the Boers mounted their mares and departed, 
holding a southeasterly course. As soon as they were out of 
sight I saddled up and rode north, with two after-riders, to try for 
blesboks. I found the country extremely pleasant to ride on. It 
resembled a well-kept lawn. Troops of graceful springbok and 
ftlesbok were to be seen cantering right and left, and large herds 
of black wildebeests in every direction, now charging and caper- 
ing, and now reconnoitering. I took up positions on the plain 
behind the ant-hills. In the forenoon I wounded one blesbok, and 
late in the day I made a fine double shot, knocking over two old 
blesboks right and left, at a hundred and a hundred and fifty 
yards. I also shot one springbok. While '^ grallochmg" a buck, 
one of the Boers rode up to me to say that his brother had wounded 
a wildebeest, which stood at bay on the plain, and his ammunition 
being expended, he would feel obliged by my coming to his assist- 
ance. I accordingly accompanied the Boer to where his brothei 
Btood sentry over the wounded bull, when I lent him my ritle 
Urith which he finished his bull with a bullet in the fcrehead. 



246 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



On the following day I hunted to the northeast of my ramp, and 
made a fine shot at a blesbok, knocking him over at a hundred 
and fifty yards. Returning to camp in a low-lyiKig grassy vley, I 
started a herd of " vlacke varcke," or wild hogs. The herd con- 
sisted of seven half-grown young ones and three old ones, one of 
which carried a pair of enormous tusks, projecting eight or nine 
mches beyond his lip. Being well mounted and the graund favor- 
able, I at once gave chase, and was soon at their heels. My horse 
was "The Gray." I selected the old boar for my prey, and 
immediately separated him from his comrades. After two miles 
of sharp galloping, we commenced ascending a considerable 
acclivity, when I managed to close with him, and succeeded in 
turning his head toward my camp. He now reduced his pace to 
a trot, and regarded me with a most malicious eye, his mouth a 
mass of foam. He was entirely in my power, as I had only to 
spring from my horse and bowl him over. I felt certain of him, 
but resolved not to shoot as long as his course lay in the direction 
of the wagons. At length, surprised at the resolute manner in 
which he held for my camp, I headed him ; when, to'my astonish- 
ment, he did not in the slightest swt^rve from his course, but 
trottod along behind my horse like a dog following me. This at 
once roused my suspicions, and I felt certain that the cunning old 
fellow was making for some retreat, so 1 resolved to dismount and 
finish him. Just, however, as I had come to this resolution, I 
suddenly found myself in a labyrinth of enormous holes, the bur- 
rows of the ant-bear. In front of one of these the wild boar 
pulled up, and, charging stern foremost into it, disappeared from 
my disappointed eyes, and I saw him no more. I rode home ioi 
my .*nen ; and returning, we collected grass and bushes, and ta« 
dea "ored to smoke him out, but without success. 




HUNTING THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 



*J47 




HOPPOPOTAMUS. 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

HUNTING THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 

N the 17th of June, says Mr. Cum 
niing, having found a good drift 
I crossed the Limpopo with mv 
wagons, and drew them up in a 
green and shady spot. I then rode a long way 
down the eastern bank in quest of hippopo- 
tami, and late in the evening I found one, 
which I did not molest, trusting to find hin 
the next day. 
On the 18th a dense mist hung over the 
river all the morning. Ordering the wagons to follow in an hour, 
I rode ahead to sesk the sea-cow of the previous night, but after a 
long search I gave it up as a bad job, and, kindling a fire to warm 
myself, awaited the wagons, which presently came up. Here 1 
halted for two hours, and then once more rode ahead to seek hip- 
popotami. The river became more promising fo? sea-cows. At 
every turn there occurred deep, still pools, with occasional sandy 
islands densely clad with lofty reeds, and with banks covered with 
reeds to a breadth of thirty yards. Above and beyond these reeds 
stood trees of immense age and gigantic size, beneath which grew 
a long and very rank description of grass, on which the sea-cow 
delights to pasture. 

1 soon found fresh spoor, and after holding on for severai 




248 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



miles, just as the sun was going down, and as I entered a dense 
reed cover, I came upon the fresh lairs of four hippopotami. 
They had been lying sleeping on the margin of the river, and, on 
hearing me come crackling through the reeds, had plunged into the 
deep water. I at once ascertained they were newly started, foi 
the froth and bubbles were still on the spot where they had 
plunged in. Next moment I heard them blowing a little way 
down the river. I then headed them, and with considerable dif- 
ficulty, owing to the cover and the reeds, at length came tight 
down above where they were standing. It was a broad part of 
the river, with a sandy bottom, and the water came half way up 
their sides. There were four of them, three cows and an old bull ; 
they stood in the middle of the river, and, though alarmed, did 
not appear aware of the extent of the impendmg danger. 

I took the sea-cow next me, and with my first ball I gave hei 
a mortal wound, knocking loose a great plate on the top of her 
skull. She at once commenced plunging round and round, and 
then occasionally remained still, sitting for a few minutes on 
the same spot. On hearing the report of my rifle two of the 
others took up stream, and the fourth dashed down the river ; 
they trotted along, like oxen, at a smart pace, as long as the water 
was shallow. I was now in a state of very great anxiety about my 
wounded sea-cow, for I feared that she would get into deep water, 
and be lost like the last one ; her struggles were still carrying her 
down stream, and the water was becoming deeper. To settle the 
matter, I accordingly fired a second shot from the bank, which 
entering the roof of her skull, passed out through her eye ; she 
then kept continually splashing round and round in a circle in the 
middle of the river. I had great fears of the crocodiles, and did not 
know that the sea-cow might not attack me. My anxiety to secure 
her, however, overcame all hesitation ; so, divesting myself of my 
leathers, and armed with a sharp knife, I dashed into the water 
which at first took me up to my arm-pits, but in the middle was 
Bhallower. 

As I approached Behemoth, her eye looked very wicked. I 
waited for a moment ready to dive under the water if she attacked 



HUNTING THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 261 



me ; but she was stunned, and did not know what she fvas doing ; 
80, running in ^ipon her, and seizing her short tail, I attempted to 
incline her course to land. It was extraordinary what enormous 
strength she still had in the water. I could not guide her in the 
shghtest, and she continued to splash, and plunge, and blow, and 
make her circular course, carrying me along with her as if I was 
a fly on her tail. Finding her tail gave me but a poor hold, as the 
only means of securing my prey, I took out my knife and cut two 
deep parallel incisions through the skin on her rump. Lifting 
this skin from the flesh so that I could get in my two hands, I 
made use of this as a handle ; and after some desperate hard work, 
sometimes pushing, sometimes pulling, the sea-cow continuing her 
circular course all the time, and I holding on at her rump like 
grim Death, eventually I succeeded in bringing this gigantic and 
most powerful animal to the bank. Here the Bushman quickly 
brought me a stout buffalo rheim from my horse's neck, which I 
passed through the opening in the thick skin, and moored Behe- 
moth to a tree. I then took my rifle and sent a ball through the 
center of her head, and she was numbered with the dead. 

At this moment my wagons came up within a few hundred 
yards of the spot, where I outspanned, and by moonlight we took 
down a span of select oxen and a pair of rheim chains, and 
succeeded in dragging the sea-cow high and dry. We were all 
astonished at her enormous size ; she appeared to be about five 
feet broad across the belly. I could see much beauty in the 
animal, which Nature has admirably formed for the amphibious 
life it was destined to pursue. 

We were occupied all the morning of the 19th cutting up and 
salting the select parts of the sea-cow ; of the skull I took particular 
charge. She was extremely fat, more resembling a pig than a 
cow, or a horse. In the evening I rode down the river, and shot 
a brace of water-bucks, after which I left the river-bank and rode 
to the summit of an adjacent hill, from which I obtained a fine 
view of the surrounding country. Many bold blue mountain rangea 
stood to the north and no^Hwest ; to the east and southeast were 
also '^'^untain ranges. 



252 



HUNTING ADVENTURES, 




REITBOCK. 



CHAPTER XLV. 

MR. cumming's adventure with an extraordinary heed 

OF BLESBOKS. 




PON the 19th of March, 1S48, says 
iVIr. Gumming, I left Colesberg 
with three wagons " well manned 
and stored," for my fifth and last cruise in 
the far interior. I was joined by a Mr. 
Orpen (a mighty Nimrod), who, notwith 
standing my representing to him the 
dangers and hardships of an elephant 
hunting expedition in their blackest colors, kindly agreed to favoi 
me with his help and company on my lonely trip. My sojc urn 
in Colesberg reduced me considerably, and I was glad once more 



ADVENTURE WITH BLESBOKS. 255 



breathe the fresh air of the country. We got clear of Colesbeig 
at about 9 A.M., and commenced our march over the country 1 
had so often marked with my wheel-tracks, and which my reader 
must now be fully acquainted with. On my way I completely 
recruited my oxen and stud, and prepared myself to take the field 
with an immense pack of stout serviceable dogs. I also engaged 
as after-rider a Bushman named Booi. 

The game became plentiful in about ten days after we left Coles- 
berg, but when we came to the Vet River I beheld with astonish- 
ment and delight decidedly one of the most wonderful displays 
which I had witnessed during my varied sporting career in 
Southern Africa. On my right and left the plain exhibited or ». 
purple mass of graceful blesboks, which extended without a break 
as far as my eyes could strain : the depth of their vast legions 
covered a breadth of about six hundred yards. On pressing upon 
them, they cantered along before me, not exhibiting much alarm, 
taking care, however, not to allow me to ride within at least four 
hundred yards of them. On, on I rode, mtensely excited with the 
wondrous scene before me, and hoped at length to get to wind- 
ward of at least some portion of the endless living mass which 
darkened the plain, but in vain. Like squadrons of dragoons, 
the entire breadth of this countless herd held on their forward cours* 
as if aware of my intention, and resolved not to allow me to 
weather them. 

At length I determined to play upon their ranks, and, pressing 
my horse to his utmost speed, dashed forward, and, suddenly 
halting, sprang from the saddle, and, giving my rifle at least two 
feet of elevation, fired right and left into one of their darkest masses. 
A noble buck dropped to the right barrel, and the second shot 
told loudly ; no buck, however, fell, and after lying for half a 
minute the prostrate blesbok rose, and was quickly los' sight of 
among his retreating comrades. In half a minute I was again 
loaded and after galloping a few hundred yards, let drive into 
them, but was still unsuccessful. Excited and annoyed at my 
want of luck, I resolved to follow them up, and blaze away while 
a shot remained in the locker, which I did ; until, after riding 



25b 



HUNTING ADVENTTTR^S. 



about eight or nine miles, I found my ammunition expended, and 
not a single blesbok bagged, although at least a dozen must have 
been wounded. It was now high time to retrace my steps and seek 
my wagons. I accordingly took a point, and rode across the 
trackless country in the direction for which they were steering. 

I very soon once more fell in with fresh herds of thousands of 
blesboks. As it was late in the day, and I being on the right side 
for the wind, the blesboks were very tame, and allowed me to ride 
along within rifle-shot of them, and those which ran charged reso- 
lutely past me up the wind in long-continued streams. I took a 
lucky course for the wagons, and came right upon them, having 
just outspanned on the bank of the Vet River. 1 could wilHngly 
have devoted a month to blesbok shooting in this hunter's elysium, 
but, having heard from a party of Bastards that the Vaal River 
was low, and being extremely anxious to push on, I inspanned, 
and continued my march by moonlight. Before proceeding far 
we discovered the deeply-imprinted spoor of an enormous lion, 
which had walked along the wagon-track for several hundred 
yards. We continued our march till after midnight, vast herds of 
blesbock charging from us on every side. Lions were heaiQ 
«^)aring for the first time during this night. 




HUNTING THE WHITE RHINOCEROS. 



257 




WHITE RHINOCEROS. 



CHAPTER XLYI. 



HUNTING THE WHITE RHINOCEROS, LION, BUFFALO AND 
GIRAFFE. 

PON the 9lh,says Mr. Gumming, it 
rained unceasingly throughout the 
day, converting the rich soil on 
which we were encamped into one 
mass of soft, sticky clay. In the forenoon, 
fearing the ram would continue so as to ren- 
der the vley (through which we must pass to 
gain the firmer ground) impassable, T ordered 
my men to prepare to march, and leave the 
tent with its contents standing, the point which I wished to gain 
being distant only about five hundred yards. When the oxen 
were inspanned, however, and we attempted to move, we found 
my tackle, which was old, so rotten from the effects of the rain, 
that something gave way at every strain. Owing to thi& and to 
17 




258 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



the softness of the vley, we labored on till sundown, and cfily stic- 
ceeded in bringing one wagon to its destination, the other two re- 
maining fast in the mud in the middle of the vley. Next morning, 
juckily, the weather cleared up, when my men brought over the 
lent, and in the afternoon the other two wagons. 

We followed up the banks of the river for several days with 
the usual allowance of sport. On the 16th we came suddenly upon 
an immense old bull muchocho rolling in mud. He sprang to his 
feet immediately he saw me, and charging up the bank, so frightened 
our horses, that before I could get my rifle from my after-rider he 
was past us. I then gave him chase, and after a hard gallop of 
about a mile, sprang from my horse and gave him a good shot 
behind the shoulder. At this moment a cow rhinoceros of the 
same species, with her calf, charged out of some wait-a-bit thorn 
cover, and stood right in my path. Observing that she carried an 
unusually long horn, I turned my attention from the bull to her, 
and, after a very long and severe chase, dropped her at the sixth 
shot. I carried one of my rifles, which gave me much trouble, 
that not being the tool required for this sort of work, where quick 
loading is indispensable. 

After breakfast I sent men to cut off the head of this rhinoceros 
and proceeded with Ruyter to take up the spoor of the bull 
wounded in the morning. We found that he was very severely 
hit, and having followed the spoor for about a mile through very 
dense thorn cover, he suddenly rustled out of the bushes close 
ahead of us, accompanied by a whole host of rhinoceros birds. 1 
mounted my horse and gave him chase, and in a few minutes he 
had received four severe shots. I managed to turn his course 
toward camp, when I ceased firing, as he seemed to be nearly 
done up, and Ruyter and I rode slowly behind, occasionally shout- 
ing to guide his course. Presently, however, Chukuroo ceased 
taking any notice of us, and held leisurely on for tin river, into a 
shallow part of which he walked, and after panting there ana 
turning about for a quarter of an hour, he fell over and expired. 
This was a remarkably fine old bull, and from his dentition it was 
lot improbable that a hundred summers had seen him roaming v 



HtJNTINa THE BUFFALO. 261 

peaceful denzien of the forests and open glades along the fah 
banks of the secluded Mariqua. 

During our march on the 19th we had to cross a range of very 
rocky hills, covered with large loose stones, and all hands wera 
required to he actively employed for about an hour in clearing 
them out of the way to permit the wagons to pass. The work 
went on fast and furious, and the quantity of stones cleared 
was immense. At length we reached the spot where we were 
obliged to bid adieu to the Mariqua, and hold a westerly course 
across the country for Sicheley. At sundown we halted under a 
ioi'ty mountain, the highest in the district, called "Lynche a 
Cheny," or the Monkey's Mountain. 

Next day, at an early hour, I rode out with Ruyter to hunt, my 
camp being entirely without flesh, and we having been rationed 
upon very tough old rhinoceros for several days past. It was a 
cloudy morning, and soon after starting it came on to rain heavily. 
1, however, held on, skirting a fine, well- wooded range of moun- 
tains, and after riding several miles I srhot a zebra. Having covered 
the carcass well over with branches to protect it from the vultures, 
I returned to camp, and inspanning my wagons, took it up on 
the march. We continued trekking on until sundown, when we 
started an immense herd of buffaloes, into which I stalked and shot 
a huge old bull. 

Our march this evening was through the most beautiful country I 
had ever seen in Africa. We skirted an endless range of well-wooded 
stony mountains lying on our left, while to our right the country 
at first sloped gently off, and then stretched away into a level 
green forest (^occasionally interspersed with open glades), boundless 
as the ocean. This green forest was, however, relieved in one 
direction by a chain of excessively bold, detached, well-wooded, 
rocky, pyramidal mountains,which stood forth in grand relief. In 
advance the picture was hounded by forest and mountain ; one bold 
acclivity, in shape of a dome, standing prominent among its fellows 
It was a lovely evening j the sky overcast and gloomy, threw an 
interesting, wild, mysterious coloring over the landscape. I gazed 
forth upon the romantic scene before me with intense delight, and 



262 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



felt melancholy and sorrowful at passing so fleetingly through t, 
and couid not help shouting out, as I marched along, " Where is 
the coward who would not dare to die for such a land ?'* 

In the morning we held for a fountain some miles ahead in a 
gorge in the mountains. As we approached the fountain, and 
were passing close under a steep rocky hill side, well wooded to 
jts summit, I unexpectedly beheld a Hon stealing up the rocky face, 
and, halting behind a tree, he stood overhauling us for some 
minutes. I resolved to give him battle, and seizing my rifle, 
marched against him, followed by Carey carrying a spare gun, 
and by three men leading my dogs, now reduced to eight. When 
we got close in to the base of the mountain, we found ourselves 
enveloped in dense jungle, which extended halfway to its summit, 
and entirely obscured from our eyes objects which were quite ap- 
parent from the wagons. I slipped my dogs, however, which, 
after snuffing about, took right up the steep face on the spoor of 
the lions, for there was a troop of them — a lion and three lionesses. 

The people at the wagons saw the chase in perfection. When 
the lions observed the dogs coming on, they took right up, and 
three of them crossed over the sky ridge. The dogs, however, 
turned one rattling old Honess, which came rumbling down through 
the cover, close past me. I ran to meet her, and she came to bay 
m an open spot near the base of the mountain, whither I quickly 
followed, and coming up within thirty yards, bowled her over with 
my first shot, which broke her back. My second entered hei 
shoulder ; and fearing that she might hurt any of the dogs, as she 
still evinced signs of life, I finished her with a third in the breast. 
The bellies of all the four lions were much distended by some 
game they had been gorging, no doubt a bufl^alo, as a large herJ 
started out of the jungle immediately under the spot where the 
noble beasts were first disturbed. 

Showers of rain fell every hour throughout the 24th, so I enL« 
ployed my men in making feldt-schoens, or, in other words, African 
broq^ues for me. These shoes were worthy of a sportsman, being 
light, yet strong, and were entirely composed of the skins of game 
of my shooting. The soles were made of either buffalo or camel 



HUNTING THE BUFFALO 266 



opard ; the front part perhaps of koodoo, or hartebeest, or bush buck 
nnd the back of the shoe of hon, or hyaena, or sable antelope, while 
the rheimpy or thread with which the whole was sewed consisted 
of a thin strip of the skin of a steinbok. 

On the forenoon of the 26th I rode forth to hunt, accompanied 
by Ruyter ; we held west, skirting the wooded stony mountains. 
The natives had here many years before Avaged successful war 
with elephants, four of whose skulls I found. Presently I camo 
across two sassaybies, one of which I knocked over ; but while 1 
was loadmg he regained his legs and made off. We crossed a 
level stretch of forest, holding a northerly course for an opposite 
range of green, well-wooded hills and valleys. Here I came upon a 
troop of six fine old bull buffaloes, into which I stalked, and wounded 
oi^ princely fellow very severely behind the shoulder, bringing 
i>^ood from his mouth ; he, however, made off with his comrades, and, 
tUe ground being very rough we failed to overtake hitn. They 
held for the Ngotwani. After following the spoor for a couple ot 
miles, we dropped it, as it led right away from camp. 

Returning from this chase, we had an adventure with another 
old bull buffalo, which shows the extreme danger of hunting buf- 
faJoes without dogs. We started him in a green hollow among 
the hills, and his course inclining for camp, I gave him chase. 
He crossed the level broad strath and made for the opposite dense- 
ly-wooded range of mountains. Along the base of these we 
followed him, sometimes m view, sometimes on the spoor, keeping 
the old fellow at a pace which made him pant. Ai length, finding 
himself much distressed, he had recourse to a singular stratagem 
Doubling round some thick bushes which obscured him from oui 
view, he found himself beside a small pool of rain water, just deep 
enough to cover his body ; into this he walked, and, facing about, 
lay gently down and awaited our on-coming, with nothing but h'^ 
old grey face and massive horns above the water, and these con- 
cealed ,'rom view by rank overhanging herbage. 

Our attention was entirely engrossed with the spoor, and thus 
we rode boldly on until within a few feet of him, when springing 
to his feet, he made a desperate charge after Ruyter, utteimga, 



\66 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



low, stifled roar peculiar to buffaloes (somewhat similar to the growl 
of a lion), and hurled horse and rider to the earth with fearful vio- 
lence. His horn laid the poor horse's haunch open to the bone, 
making the most fearful rugged wound. In an instant Ruyter re 
gained his feet and ran for his life, which the buffalo observing; 
gave chase, but most fortunately came down with a tremendous 
somersault in the mud, his feet slipping froTi under him ; thus the 
Bushman escaped certain destruction. The buffalo rose much 
discotnfited, and, the wounded horse first catching his eye, he 
went a second time after him, but he got out of the way. At this 
mom )nt I managed to send one of my patent pacificating pills into his 
shoulder, when he instantly quitted the field of action, and sought 
shelter in a dense cover on the mountain side, whither I deemei 
It imprudent to follow him. 




<^ 



HUNTING THE ELEPHANT 



267 




AFRICAN ELEFHAin*. 



CHAPTER XLYIL 

ELEPHANT HUNTING BY MOONLIGHT. 
N the 17th of September, says Mr. Gumming, I resolved to 
leave the fountain of Seboono, as it was much disturbed, and 
to~proceed with a few Bakalahari to a small yet famous watei 
about six miles to the southeast. We accordingly saddled up 
and held thither. On reaching this fountain, which is called by 
the natives "^ Paapaa," I found the numerous foot-paths leading to 
it covered, as I had anticipated, with fresh spoor of elephant and 
rhinoceros. I then at once proceeded to study the best spot on 
which to make our shooting-hole for the night. It would be im- 
possible to prevent some of the game from getting our wind, for 
the foot-paths led to it from every side. The prevaihng wind was 
from the east, so I pitched upon the southwest corner of the foun- 
tain. The water was not more than twenty yards long and ten 
broad. The west side was bounded by tufous rock, which rose 
abruptly from the water about five feet high. The top of this 



268 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 

rock was level with the surrounding Yley, and here al tha 
elephants drank, as if suspicious of treading on the muddy margin 
on the other three sides of the fountain. I made our shooting-box 
within six or eight yards of the water, constructing it in a circular 
form, of bushes packed together so as to form a hedge about three 
feet high. On the top of the hedge I placed heavy dead old 
branches of trees, so as to form a fine clear rest for our rifles ; 
these clean old branches were all lashed firmly together with 
strips of thorn bark. All being completed, I took the Bakalahari 
and our steeds to a shady tree, about a quarter of a mile to lee- 
ward of the fountain, where we found a kraal and off'-saddJed. 
This day was particularly adapted to bring game to the water, 
the sun being extremely powerful, and a hot dry wind prevaihng 
all the afternoon. I told Carey that we were certain of having a 
good night's sport, and I was right, for we undoubtedly had about 
the finest night's sport and the most wonderful that was ever 
enjoyed by man. 

A little before the sun went down, leaving our kraal, we held 
to the fountain, having with us our heavy-metaled rifles, karosses, 
and two Bakalahari. We also had two small guns, my doublo 
barreled Westley Richards, and Carey's single-barreled gun. As 
we approached the fountain, a stately bull girafl^e stood before us; 
the heat of the day had brought him thither, but he feared to go 
in and drink ; on observing us, he walked slowly away. Two 
jackals were next detected. Guinea-fowl, partridges, two or 
three sorts of pigeon and turtle-dove, and small birds in countless 
thousands, were pairing in to drink from every airt, as we walked 
up to our hidmg-place and lay down. In a few minutes the sun 
was under ; but the moon was strong and high (it being within 
ihr&3 nights of the full), and the sky was clear, with scarcely a 
cloud. Very soon a step was heard approaching from the east : 
it was a presuming black rhinoceros. He came up within ten 
yards of the hiding-hole, and, observing us with his sharp prying 
eye, at once came slowly forward for a nearer inspection. I then 
shouted to him ; but this he did not heed in the slightest. I then 
sprang up and w^ved my large kaross, shouting at the same t*me 



r 



ill aIIijI nIS,' 









I 




i ' 



HUNTING THE ELEPHANT. 271 



This, however, only seemed to amuse Borele, for he stood within 
four yards of us, with his horn threatening our momentary destruc- 
tion, nor would he wheel about until I threw a log of wood at 
him. Black rhinoceroses are very difficult to scare when they do 
not get the wind : the best way to do so is to hit them with a 
stone — that is, in the event of the sportsman not wishing to fire 
off his gun. 

Soon after Borele departed four old bull elephants drew near 
from the south. They were coming right on for the spot where 
we lay, and they seemed very likely to walk over the top of us. 
We therefore placed our two big rifles in position, and awaited 
their forward movement with intense interest. On they came, 
with a slow and stately step, until within twenty yards of us, 
when the leading elephant took it into his head to pass to leeward. 
We let him come on until he got our wind ; he was then within 
ten yards of the muzzles of our heavy-metaled rifles ; on winding 
us, he tossed his trunk aloft, and we instantly fired together. I 
caught him somewhere about the heart, and my big six-pound 
rifle burst m Carey's hands, very nearly killing us both. The 
elephant, on being fired at, wheeled about, and retreated to the 
forest at top speed. I now directed " Stick-in-the-mud" to make 
ase of his single-barreled twelve to the pound in the event of 
more elephants coming up ; and thanking my stars that the old 
Dutch rifle had not sent us both to the land of the leal, I sat down 
and watched the dark masses of trees that cut the sky on every 
Bide, in the hope of seeing a mass as high and wide come towering 
forward into the open space that surrounded the fountain. 

Nor did I watch long in vain, for very soon three princely bull 
elephants appeared exactly where the first came on, and holding 
exactly the same course. They approached just as the first had 
done. When the leading elephant came within ten yards of us, 
he got our wind and tossed up his trunk, and was wheeling round 
,0 retreat, when we fired together, and sent our bullets somewhere 
about his heart. He ran two hundred yards and then stood, being 
evidently dying. His comrades halted likewise, but one of them, 
ihe finest ,{ the three, almost immediately turned his head once 



272 HUNTINQ ADVENTURES, 



more to the fountain, and very slowly and warily came on. Wt 
now heard the wounded elephant utter the cry of death, and fal" 
heavily on the earth. Carey, whose ears were damaged by the 
bursting of the big rifle, did not catch this sound, but swcre that 
the elephant which now so stealthily approached the water was 
the one at which we had fired. 

It was interesting .to observe this grand old bull approach the 
fountain : he seemed to mistrust the very earth on which he stood, 
and smelt and examined with his trunk every yard of the ground 
before he trod on it, and sometimes stood five minutes on one spot 
without moving. At length, having gone round three sides of the 
fountain, and being apparently satisfied as to the correctness of 
every thing, he stepped boldly forward on to the rock on the west, 
and, walking up within six or seven yards of the muzzles of our 
rifles, turned his broadside, and, lowering his trunk into the water, 
drev/ up a volume of water, which he threw over his back and 
shoulders to cool his person. This operation he repeated two or 
three times, after which he commenced drinking, by drawing the 
water into his trunk and then pouring it into his mouth. I deter- 
mined to break his leg if possible ; so, covering the limb about 
level with the lower line of his body, I fired, Carey firing for his 
heart. I made a lucky shot ; and, as the elephant turned and 
attempted to make away, his leg broke with a loud crack, and he 
stood upon his three sound ones. At once disabled and utterly 
incapable of escaping, he stood statue-like beside the fountain, 
within a few yards of where he had got the shot, and only occa- 
sionally made an attempt at locomotion. 

The patch of my rifle, fired at this elephant's comrade, had 
ignited a large ball of dry old dung, about eight yards to leeward 
of our kraal, and, fanned by the breeze, it was now burning away 
very brightly, the sparks flying in the wind. Presently, on look- 
mg about me, I beheld two bull elephants approaching by the self- 
same foot-path which the others had held. The first of these was 
a half-grown bull, the last was an out-and-out old fellow with 
enormous tusks. They came on as the first had done, but seemed 
inclined to pass to windward of us. The young bull, howeveii 



HUNTING THE ELEPHANT. 273 

Observed the fire ; he at once walked up to it, and, s Jnelling at it 
with his trunk, seemed extremely amused, and in a gamboliag 
humor threw his trunk about, as if not knowing what to think of 
It. The larger bull now came up, and exposed a fine broadside.* 
we took him behind the shoulder and fired together : on receiving 
the shots, he wheeled about and held west with droo; ing ears, 
evidently mortally wounded. 

Some time after this I detected an enormous old bull elephant 
approaching from the west. If we lay still where we were, he 
must in a few minutes get our wind, so we jumped up and ran 
forward out of his line of march. Here a borele opposed our fur- 
ther progress, and we had to stone him out of our way. The 
elephant came on, and presently got the wind of where we had 
been lying. This at once seemed to awake his suspicions, for he 
stood still among the trees, stretching his trunk from side to side 
to catch the scent, and doubtful whether he should advance or 
retreat. We then ran toward him, and stalked in within forty 
yards of where he stood, and, taking up a position behind a bush, 
awaited his forward movement. The elephant came slowly for- 
ward, and I thought would pass to windward of us, when he sud- 
denly altered his course, and walked boldly forward right for 
where we stood. He came on until within seven or eight yards, 
when I coughed loudly to turn him. He tossed up his trunk and 
turned quickly round to fly; as he turned, however, we fired 
together, when the elephant uttered a shrill cry of distress, and 
crashed away, evidently hard hit. When this bull was standing 
before us, we both remarked that he was the finest we had seen 
that night : his tusks were extremely long, thick, and very un- 
usually wide set. 

We now returned to the fountam, and once more lay dowm to 

watch. Rhinoceroses, both black and white, were parading 

around us all night in every direction. We had lain but a short 

time when I detected a single old bull elephant approaching from 

the south by the same path which all the others had held. This 

elephant must have been very thirsty, for he came boldly on with 

eut any hesitation ; and, keeping to windward, walked pist within 
18 



274 niJNTiNa adventures. 



about eight )'ards of us. We fired at the same moment ; th< 
elephant wheeled about, and, after running a hundred yards 
reduced his pace to a slow walk. I clapped Carey on the 
shoulder, and said, " We have him." 1 had hardly uttered the 
words when he fell over on his side ; he rose, however, again to 
his feet. At this moment the same presuming borele who had 
troubled us in the early part of the night, came up to us again, 
and, declining as before to depart by gentle hints, I thought it a 
huing moment to put an end to his intrusion, and accordingly 
gave him a ball behind the shoulder. On receiving it, he galloped 
off in tremendous consternation, and passed close under the dying 
elephant, who at the moment fell dead with a heavy crash, and 
broke one of his hind legs under him in the fall. 

About an hour after two more elephants came towering on from 
the east. When they came up they stood for a long time motion- 
less within forty yards of the water ; and at length the finer of 
the two, which was a very first-rate old bull, and carrying im- 
mense tusks, walked boldly forward, and passing round the north 
side of the fountain, commenced drinking on the rock just as the 
crippled bull had done. We both fired together, holding for his 
heart; the bullets must have gone nearly through him^, for we 
had double charges of powder in our weapons. On receiving the 
shots he dropped a volume of water from his trunk, and, tossing it 
aloft, uttered a loud cry and made off, steering north ; but before 
he was out of our sight he reduced his pace to a slow walk, and 
I could quite plainly hear, by the loud, painful breathing through 
nis trunk, that he was mortally wounded ; but whether the natives 
were too lazy to seek him, or hiving found him would not tell me, 
I know not, but I never got him. We shot another bull elephant 
shortly after this ; he too uttered a shrill cry, and went off holding 
the same course the last one did ; that was, however, all that I 
ever saw of him. 

It was now wearing on toward morning : the moon was low 
and the sky was cloudy ; and feeling very sleepy, I set the two 
Bakalahari to watch while I lay down to rest. Carey was alreaay 
enjoying a sound sleep, and snoring loudly. I had lain nearly an 



HUNTING THE ELEPHANT. 275 



hour, and was neither waking nor sleeping, when the Bakalahari 
whispered, " Clou toona, macoa," which signifies ''- Bull elephants 
white man." I sat up on my kaross, and beheld three old bulls 
approaching from the west. At this moment there was a death- 
like calm 'in the atmosphere, and the sky looked very threatening 
all along the mountain range which bounds this favorit'* elephant 
district on the southwest. I greatly feared a thunder-storm 
Suddenly a breeze came whistling from the mountains, and gave 
these three elephants our wind. We then left the fountain and 
held to our wagons, where we slept till the sun rose. 

When the sun rose i proceeded with the Bakalahari to inspect 
the spoors of the wounded elephants. I was struck with astonish- 
ment when I thought over our night's sport : nine times had fiist- 
rate old bull elephants come up to drink, and we had fired at 
eight of these at distances of from six to ten yards, with cool, 
steady rests. Two of them lay dead beside the fountain ; another 
had a broken \qq^^ and could not escape ; and the only one which 
we imagined had escaped was the bull with the wide-set tusks, 
which we both felt certain was wounded too far hack in the body. 
The event, however, proved that our expectations were incorrect, 
for that afternoon we found this princely elephant lying dead very 
near our kraal. Both our shots were very far hack, wounding 
him somewhere about the kidneys. We never saw any thing of 
the four other elephants shot by us. The bull with the broken 
leg had gone nearly a mile from the fountain when we came up 
to him. At first he made vain attempts to escape, and then tc 
charge ; but finding he could neither escape nor catch any of us, 
he stood at bay beside a tree, and my after-riders hegan to assail 
him. It was curious to watch his movements as the boys, ai 
about twenty yardi^' distance, pelted him with sticks, &c. Each 
th ng, as It was thrown, he took up and hurled back at them. 
When, however, dry balls of elephants' dung were pitched at 
him, he contented himself with smelling at them with his trunk. 
At lengtli, wishing to put an end to his existence, I gave him foul 
jshots behind the shoulder, when he at once exhibited signs of dis« 
iress ; wa*.er ran from his eyes, and he could barely keep them 



276 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 

open j^ .pt^Sfefl^^i^^^antiG form quivered, and, failing- over, h« 
-^^pired. At night we again watched the fountain. Only one 
elephant appeared ; late in the night he came up to leeward, and 
got our wind. I, however, shot two fine old muchocho, or white 
rhinoceroses, and wounded two or three borele, which were found 
by the natives. 

On the 19th I proceeded with Carey and Piet, and a few Baka- 
lahari, to a small fountain lying one mile to the south ; here we 
made two shooting-boxes of boughs of trees. There were three 
pools at which the game drank, the largest not being more than 
twelve feet in breadth. I and Carey at night shot one fine bull 
elephant and four rhinoceroses, wounding two others, which 
escaped. On the night following we also wounded two elephants, 
which got away. 

The next night I put in practice a novel experiment I had long 
entertained — that of hunting elephants by moonlight with dogs 
and horses, as in the day, being very much annoyed at wounding 
and losing in the last week no less than ten first-rate old bull 
elephants. I communicated my idea to " Stick-in-the-mud," and 
we hastily proceeded to saddle my steed. I led my dogs, eight 
in number, through the forest to leeward of where a bull who had 
come to the fountain to drink had gone in, and when I saw that 
they had got his wind I slipped them. They dashed forward, 
and next minute I followed the baying of the dogs and the crash 
and the trumpet of the elephant. He rushed away at first w'th- 
out halting, and held right for the mountains to the southwest. 
When, however, he found that his speed did not avail, and that 
he could not get away from his pursuers, he began to turn and 
dodge about in the thickest of the cover, occasionally making 
charges after the dogs. I followed on as best I could, shouting 
Tiith all my might to encourage my good hounds. These, hear- 
ing their master's voice beside them, stuck well by the eitphant, 
and fought him better than in the day. I gave him my first two 
shots from the saddle ; after which, I rode close up to him, and, 
running in on foot, gave him some deadly shots at distances from 
fifteen to twenty yards. 



HUNTING THE ELEPHANT. 277 



The elephant very soon evinced s^P(?g|(i[ftVr^^*6A4lc^^J^ 
make away from us. Taking up^fjc^ybons in the densest parts^ "^^ 
the cover, he caught up the red dtiltwith his trunk, and throwing '^X 
it over his head and back, endeavored to conceal himself in a >! 
cloud. This was a fine opportunity to pour in my deadly shafts, 
and I took care to avail myself of it. When he had received 
kbout twelve shots, he walked slowly forward-, in a dyir.g slate, 
the blood streaming from his trunk. I rode close up to him, and 
gave him a sharp right and left from the saddle : he turned and 
walked a few yards, then suddenly came down with tremendous 
violence on his vast stern, pitching his head and trunk aloft to a 
prodigious height, and, falling heavily over on his side, expired. 
This was an extremely large and handsome elephant, decidedly 
the finest bull I had shot this year. Afraid of taking cold or 
rheumatism, for I was in a most profuse perspiration, I hastened 
back to my fire-side, having first secured all the dogs in their 
couples. Here I divested myself of my leather trowsers, shooting- 
belt, and veldt-schoens, and, stretched on my kaross, I took tea, 
and wondered at the facility with which I had captured thif 
mightv elephant. 

Feeling fatigued, I intended to lie down and rest till morning. 
Just, however, as I was arranging my saddles for a pillow, I be- 
held another first-rate old bull elephant advancing up the vley 
from the south. I at once resolved that he, too, should run the 
gauntlet with the dogs. In immense haste, tnerefore, I once more 
pulled on my old leathers, and buckled on my shooting-belt, and 
ran down into the rank long grass beside the fountain to meet him, 
armed with the large two-grooved rifle, having directed Carey 
and Piet to come slowly up with the dogs and my horse and gun 
as soon as they were ready. The elephant came on, and stood 
drinking within thirty yards of me. When I saw Carey coming 
en with the dogs and steed, I fired, but my rifle hung fire. The 
shot, however, gave the dogs good courage, and they fought well 
The elephant took away at a rapid prce toward the other foun- 
tain where the Bechuanas lay, and at first led me through very 
bad wait-a-bit thorn cover, which once or twice nearly swept me 



:i78 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



out of the saddle Presenily he inclined to the west, and got ima 
better country ; 1 then rode close to him, and bowled him ovei 
with four shots. 

I'he next morning, my ammunition being expended, or very 
nearly so, I dispatched Carey to camp for fresh supplies. After 
he had gone 1 walked through the forest, when I observed ^* Fro- 
rhum*' snuff up the wind and go ahead. I soon saw himx return- 
ing, with two jackals trotting behind him, so I at once knew that 
there was some game lying dead in advance. When I had pro- 
ceeded a little further the dogs ran forward, and next moment a 
rush of many feet was heard charging toward where I stood. It 
was a troop of half-grown hons, with a lioness, which dashed past 
me, followed by the dogs. They had been feasting on a white 
rhinoceros, shot by me two nights previously, which I found lying 
a little in advance. Beside the carcase stood a fine fat calf — the 
poor thing, no doubt, fancying that its mother slept ; heedless of 
lions, and all the other creatures that had trodden there, it had 
remained beside its dead mother for a day and two njghts. Rhi- 
noceros' calves always stick to their mothers long after they are 
dead. The next night I was again successful in a night hunt, 
and bagged a very fine bull elephant. This wound up my ele- 
phant night shooting for that moon, for next day there was a most 
awful thunder-storm, which tilled the forest with large pools oi 
ivater. 




ADVENTURE WITH A MONSTER LION. 



27^ 







CHAPTER XLVIIL 



ADVENTURE WITH A MONSTER LION. 

N the 29th, says Mr. Cur.irning, 
we arrived at a small village ct 
Bakalahari. These natives told me 
that elephants were abundant on 
the opposite side of the river. I 
accordingly resolved to halt here and 
hunt, and drew my wagons up on 
the river's bank, within thirty yards 
of the water, and about one hun- 
dred yards from the native village. 
Having outspanned, we at once se* 
about making for the cattle a kraax 
of the worst description of thorn- 
liees Of this I had now become very particular, since my severe 
loss by lions on the first of this month ; and my cattle were, at 
night, secured by a strong kraal, which inclosed my two wagons 
the horses being made fast to a trek-tow stretched between the hind 
Krheels of the wagons I had yet, however, a fearful lesson lo 




280 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



learn as to the nature and character of the hon, of which I had at am 
time entertained so little fear; and on this night a horrible tragedy 
was to be acted in my little lonely camp, of so very appalling 
a nature as to make the blood curdle in our veins. I worked till 
near sundown at one side of the kraal with Hendric, my first 
wagon-driver — I cutting down the trees with my ax, and he drag- 
ing them to the kraal. When the kraal for the cattle was finished, 
I turned my attention to making a pot of barley-broth, and lighted 
my fire between the wagons and the water, close on the river s 
bank, under a dense grove of shady trees, making no sort of kraal 
around our sitting-place for the evening. 

The Hottentots, without any reason, made their fire about fifty 
yards from mine ; they according to their usual custom, being 
satisfied with the shelter of a large dense bush. The evening 
passed away cheerfully. Soon after it was dark we .heard ele- 
phants breaking the trees in the forest across the river, and once 
or twice 1 strode away into the darkness some distance from the 
fireside to stand and listen to them. I little at that moment, 
deemed of the imminent peril to which I was exposing my life, 
nor thought that a blood-thirsty man-eater lion was crouching near, 
only watching his opportunity to spring into the kraal and consign 
one of us to a most horrible death. About three hours after the su^? 
went down I called to my men to come and take their cofTee apd 
supper, which was ready for them at my fire ; and after suppe/ 
three of them returned before their comrades to their own fireside 
and lay down ; these were John Stofolus, Hendric, and Ruyter 
In a few minutes an ox came out by th** gate of the kraal an^ 
walked round the back of it. Hendric got up and drove him ip 
again, and then went back to his fireside and lay down. Hendiic 
and Ruyter lay on one side of the fire under one blanket, and John 
Stofolus lay on the other. At this moment I was sitting taking 
some barley-broth ; our fire was very small, and the night waa 
pitch-dark and windy. Owing to our proximity to the native 
village the wood was very scarce, the Bakahalari having burned 
it all in their fires. 

Suddenly the appal Ing and murderous voice of an angry, blood 



ADVENTURE WITH A MONSTER LION. 281 



»hirsty Hon burst upon my ear within a few yards of us, fcllowed 
by the shrieking of the Hottentots. Again and again the mur- 
derous roar of attack was repeated. We heard John and Ruytei 
shriek ^'^ The ho > ! the lion !" still, for a few moments, we thought 
he was but chasing one of the dogs round the kraal ; but, nexi 
instant, John Stofoius rushed into the midst of us almost speech- 
less with fear and terror, his eyes bursting from their sockets, and 
shrieked out, "The lion! the lion! He has got Hendric ; he 
dragged him away from the fire beside me. I struck him 
with the burning brands upon his head, but he Avould not let go 
his hold, Hendric is dead ! Oh God ! Hendric is dead I Let 
us take fire and seek him !" The rest of my people rushed about, 
shrieking and yelling as if they were mad. I was at once angry 
with them for their folly, and told them that if they did not stand 
still and keep quiet, the lion would have another of us ; and that 
very likely there was a troop of them. I ordered the dogs, which 
were nearly all fast, to be made loose, and the fire to be increased 
as far as could be. I then shouted Hendric's name, but all wae 
still. I told my men that Hendric was dead, and that a regiment of 
soldiers could not now help him, and, hunting my dogs forward, 
I had every thing brought within the cattle-kraal, when we lighted 
oui fire and closed the entrance as well as we could. 

My terrified people sat round the fire with guns in their hands 
till the day broke, stil! fancying that every moment the lion would 
return and spring again into the midst of us. When the dogs were 
first let go, the stupid brutes, as dogs often prove when most re- 
quired, instead of going at the hon, rushed fiercely on one another, 
and fought desperately for some minutes. After this they got his 
wind, and, going at him, disclosed to us his position : they kept up a 
continual barking until the day dawned, the lion occasionally spring 
ing after them and driving them in upon the kraal. The hor- 
rible monster lay all night withm forty yards of us, consuming thfe 
wretched man whom he had chosen for his prey. He had dragged 
him into a little hollow at the back of the thick bush beside which 
the fire was kindled, and there he remained till the day dawned, 
careless of our proximity. 



282 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



It appealed that when the unfortunate Hendric rose to drive 1 
the ox, the lion had watched him to his fireside, and he h ;Q 
scarcely lain down when the brute sprang upon him and Ruyt^r 
(for both lay under one blanket), with his appaling, murderous 
roar, and roaring as he lay, grappled him with his fearful claws 
and kept biting him on the breast and shoulder, all the while feel- 
ing for his necxf ; having got hold of which, he at once dragged 
him away backward round the bush into the dense shade. 

As the hon lay upon the unfortunate man he faintly cried, 
" Help me, help me ! Oh God ! men, help me !" After which 
the fearful beast got a hold of his neck, and then all was still, except 
that his comrades heard the bones of his neck cracking between 
the teeth of the lion. John Stofolus had lain with his back to the 
fire on the opposite side, and on hearing the Hon he sprang up, 
and, seizing a large flaming brand, he had belabored him on the 
head with the burning wood ; but the brute did not take any 
notice of him. The Bushman had a narrow escape ; he was not 
altogether scatheless, the lion having inflicted two gashes in his 
seat with his claws. 

The next morning, just as the day began to dawn, we heard the 
lion dragging something up the river side under cover of the bank. 
We drove the cattle out of the kraal, and then proceeded to in 
spect the scene of the night's awful tragedy. In the hollow, 
where the hon had lain consuming his prey, we found one leg of 
the unfortunate Hendric, bitten off below the knee, the shoe still 
on his foot ; the grass and bushes were all stained with his blood, 
and fragments of his pea-coat lay all around. Poor Hendric ! I knew 
the fragments of that old coat, and had often marked them hanging 
m the dense covers where the elephant had charged after my un- 
fortunate after-rider. Hendric was by far the best man I had 
about my wagons, of a most ch'^erful disposition, a first-rate wagon 
hiv^T, fearless in tne field, ever active, wilHng, and obliging : hia 
J* / ss all was very serious. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

BUNTING THE BUSTARD AND ELAND. 

At an early hour on the morning of the 6th, says Mr. Cumming^ 
while I was yet in bed, Hendric Strydom and his frau were standing 
over my fire, alongside of my wagon, with a welcome supply of sweet 
milk, and hurrying on the indolent Hottentots to prepare my break- 
fast, and rouse their slothful master, the earliest dawn being, as he 
afl&rmed, the best time to go after the springboks. On hearing their 
voices, I rose, and having breakfasted, we shouldered our " roers," 
walked about a mile across the plain, and took up positions behind 
two very low bushes, about three hundred yards apart, and instructed 
our Hottentots to endeavor to drive the springboks towards us. We 
had two beats, but were unlucky both times, each of us wounding 
and losing a springbok. In the evening we went out again to hunt 
on the same principle, on a very wide flat to the west of his house, 
where we lay down behind very low bushes, in the middle of the 
bucks. We lay there on out breasts for two hours, with herds of 
springboks moving all round us, our Hottentots manoeuvring in the 
distance. One small troop came within shot of me, when I sent my 
bullet spinning through a graceful doe, which bounded forward a 
hundred yards, and, staggering for a moment, fell over and expired. 
A little after this, I suddenly perceived a large paow or bustard 
walking on the plain before me. These birds are very wary, and 
difficult to approach. I therefore resolved to have a shot at him, 
and lay like a piece of rock until he came within range, when I sent 
a bullet through him. He managed, however, to fly about a quartei 
of a mile, when he alighted ; and, on going up to the place half an hour 
after, I found him lying dead, with his head stuck into a bush of heath, 

On the 15th, I took leave of my friends, at Kuruman, and coq« 
(284) 



A SWARM OF LOCUSTS. 286 




A LOCUST. 



tinued my journey In a northeasterly course through a heavy 
sandy country of boundless level plains, stretching away on every 
side, covered vrith rank yellow grass, which, waving in the breeze, 
imparted the idea of endless fields of ripe corn. At sundown we 
crossed the Matluarin River, an insignificant stream, and encamped 
on its northern bank. On the march we saw a few blue wilde- 
beests and ostriches. At dawn of day on the following morning 
we pursued our journey through the same description of country 
varied, however, with detached clumps of thorny mimosas. On 
the march we crossed a swarm of locusts, resting for the night on 
the grass and bushes. They lay so thick that the wagons could 
have been filled with them 'in a very short time, covering the 
large bushes just as a swarm of young bees cover the branch on 
which it pitches. Locusts afford fattening and wholesome food to 
man, birds, and 1 11 sorts of beasts ; cows and horses, lions, jackals, 
hysBnas, antelopes, elephants, &c., devour them. We met a party 
of Batlapis carrying heavy burdens of them on their back». Our 
hungry dogs made a fine feast on them. The cold frosty night 
had rendered them unable to take wing until the sun should 
restore their powers. As it was difficult to obtain sufficient food 
for my dogs, I and Isaac took a large blanket, which we spread 
under ambush, whose branches ^eie bent to the ground with the 



286 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




mass of locusts which covered it ; and, having shaken the branches, 
in an instant I had more locusts than I could carry on my back : 
these we roasted for ourselves and dogs. 

Beautifully wooded hills and mountains stretched away on 
every side ; some of the mountains were particularly grand and 
majestic, their summits being surrounded by steep precipices and 
abrupt parapets of rock, the abodes of whole colonies of black- 
faced baboons, which, astonished to behold such novel intruders 
upon their domains, leisurely descended the craggy mountain 
sides for a nearer inspection of our caravan. Seating themselves 
together upon a broad ledge, they seemed to hold a council as to 
the propriety of permitting us to proceed further through theif 
territories. Having advanced about nine miles, I drew up my 
wagons on the bank of a rivulet, where the spoor of large game 
was extremely abundant. In the bed of the stream I discovered 
the scaly skin of a manis, which had been newly eaten by some 
bird of prey. This extraordinary animal, which in its habits par- 
takes of the nature of the hedgehog, is about three feet in length, 
and is covered all over with an impenetrable coat of mail, consist- 
ing of large rough scales about the size and shape of the husk of 
an artichoke ; these overlap one another in an extraordinary and 



HUNTING RHINOCEROSES. 28' 




MAN IS. 

rery beautiful manner. Its tail is broad, and likewise covered 
with scales ; on being disturbed it rolls itself into a ball. The 
mams is met with throughout the interior of South Africa, but it is 
rare and very seldom seen. 

Having taken some coffee, I rode out unattended, with my rifle, 
and before proceeding far I fell in with a huge white rhinoceros 
with a large calf, standing in a thorny grove. Getting my wind, 
she set off at top speed through thick thorny bushes, the calf, as 
lb invariably the case, taking the lead, and the mother guiding its 
course, generally about three feet in length, against its ribs. My 
horse shied very much at first, alarmed at the strange appearance 
of ^« Chuckuroo," but by a sharp application of spur and jambok 
I prevailed upon him to follow, and presently, the ground im- 
proving, I got alongside, and, firing at the gallop, sent a bullet 
through her shoulder. She continued her pace with blood stream- 
ing from the wound, and very soon reached an impracticable 
thorny jungle, where I could not follow, and instantly lost her. 
In half an hour I fell in with a second rhinoceros, being an eld 
bull of the white variety. Dismounting, I crept within twenty 
ya. is, and saluted him with both barrels in the shoulder, upon 
which he made off, uttering a loud blowing noise, and upsetting 
every thing that obstructed his progress. 

Shortly after this I found myself on the banks of the stream 
oeside which my wagons were outspanned. Following along its 
margin, I presently beheld a bull of the borele, or black rhinocerc«, 
standing within a hundred yards of me. Dismounting from my 
horse. I secured hiivi to a tree, and then stalked within twenty 



288 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




Air ELAND. 



yaids ot the huge beast, under cover of a large, strong bush. 
Borele, hearing me advance, came on to see what it was, and 
suddenly protruded his horny nose within twenty yards of me. 
Knowing well that a front shot would not prove deadly, I sprang 
to my feet and ran behind the bush. Upon this the villain 
charged, blowing loudly, and chased me round the bush. Had 
his activity been equal to his ugliness, my wanderings would 
have terminated here, but by my superior agility I had the ad- 
vantage in the turn. After standing a short time eyeing me 
through the bush, he got a whifT of my wind, which at once 
alarmed him. Uttering a blowing noise, and erecting his insig- 
nificant yet saucy- looking tail, he wheeled about, leaving me 
master of the field, when I sent a bullet through his ribs to teach 
him manners. 

Finding that rhinoceroses were abundant in the vicinity, I re 
solved to halt a day for the purpose ot hunting, and after an earir 
breakfast on the 6th I rode southeast with the two Baquaines 



HUNTING THE ELAND. 289 



They led me along the bases of the mountains, through woody dells 
and open gJades, and we eventually reached a grand forest gray 
with age. Here we found abundance of spoor of a variety of 
game, and started several herds of the more common varieties. 
A.t length I observed an old bull eland standing inder a tree. He 
was the first that I had seen, and was a noble specimen, standing 
about six feet high at the shoulder. Observing us, h** made olf at 
a gallop, springing over the trunks of deca^'ed trees which lay 
across his path ; but very soon he reduced his pace to a trot. 
Spurring my horse, another moment saw me riding hard behind 
him. Twice in the thickets I lost sight of him, and ke very 
nearly escaped me ; but at length, the ground improving, I came 
up with him, and rode withm a few yards behind him. Long 
Streaks of foam now streamed from his mouth, and a profuse per- 
spiration had changed his sleek gray coat to an ashy blue. Tears 
trickled from his large dark eye, and it was plain that the eland's 
hours were numbered. Pitching my rifle to my shoulder, I let 
fly at the gallop, and mortally wounded him behind ; then spurring 
my horse, I shot past him on his right side, and discharged my 
other barrel behind his shoulder, when the eland staggered for a 
moment and subsided in the dust. The two Baquaines soon 
made their appearance, and seemed delighted at my success. 
Having kindled a fire, they cut out steaks, which they roasted on 
the embers : I also cooked a steak for myself, spitting it upon a 
forked branch, the other end of which I sharpened with my knife 
ind stuck into the ground. 

Of the rhinoceros there are four vaneties in South Africa, distm- 
guished by the Bechuanas by the names of the borele, or black 
rhinoceros, the keitloa, or two-horned black rhinoceros, the mucho- 
cho, or common white rhinoceros, and the kobaoba, or long-horned 
vhite rhinoceros. Both varieties of the black rhinoceros are ^■^- 
tremely fierce and dangerous, and rush headlong and unprovoked 
at any object which attracts their attention. They never attain 
much fat, and their flesh is tough, and not much esteemed by the 
Bechuanas. Their food consists almost entirely of the thorny 
brai ^^ -^f the wait-a-bit thorns. Their horns are much shorter 



290 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



than those of the other varieties, seldom exceeding eighteen 
inches in length. They are finely polished with constant rubbing 
against the trees. The skull is remarkably formed, its most strik- 
ing feature being '.ne tremendous thick ossification in which it 
ends above the nostrils. It is on this mass that the horn is sup- 
ported. The horns are not connected with the skull, being at* 
tached merely by the skin, and they may thus be separated from 
the head by means of a sharp knife. They are hard and per- 
fectly sohd throughout, and are a fine material for various articles, 
such as drinking-cups, mallets for rifles, handles for turner's 
tools, &c., &c. The horn is capable of a very high pohsh. The 
eyes of the rhinoceros are small and sparkling, and do not readily 
observe the hunter, provided he keeps to leeward of them. The 
skin is extremely thick, and only to be penetrated by bullets hard- 
ened with solder. During the day the rhinoceros will be found 
lying asleep or standing indolently in some retired part of the 
forest, or under the base of the mountains, sheltered from the 
power of the sun by some friendly grove of umbrella-topped 
mimosas. In the evening they commence their nightly ramble, 
and wander over a great extent of country. They usually visil 
the fountains between the hours of nine and twelve o'clock at 
night, and it is on these occasions that they may be most success- 
fully hunted, and with least danger. The black rhinoceros is 
subject to paroxysms of unprovoked fury, often plowing up the 
ground for several yards with its- horns, and assaulting large bushes 
in the most violent manner. On these bushes they work for hours 
with their horns, at the same time snorting and blowing loudly, noi 
do they l'>ave them in general until they have broken them intff 
pieces. The rhinoceros is supposed b} many and by myself 
among the rest, to be the animal alluded to by Job, chap, xxxix., 
verses 10 and 11, where it is written, "Canst thou bind the 
unicorn with his band in the furrow ? or will he harrow the 
valleys after thee ? wilt thou trust him because his strength is 
great ? or wilt thou leave thy labor to him ?" evidently alluding to 
an anmial possessed of great strength and of untamable disposition, 
for both of which the rhinoceros is remarkable. All the fouf 



HUNTING THE ELAND. 291 



varieties dtlight to ro'. and wallow in mud, with which theit 
rugged hides arc generally incrusted. Both varieties of the black 
rhinoceros are much smaller and more active than the white, and 
are tso swift that a horse with its rider on its back can rarely over- 
take them. The two varieties of the white rhinoceros are so 
similar in habits, that the description of one will serve for both, tbe 
principal difference consisting in the length and set of the anterior 
horn ; that of the muchocho averaging from two to three feet in 
length, and pointing backward, while the horn of the kobaoba often 
exceeds four feet in length, and inclines forward from the nose at 
an angle of forty-five degrees. The posterior horn of either 
species seldom exceeds six or seven inches in length. The ko- 
baoba is the rarer of the two, and it is found very far in the in- 
terior, chiefly to the eastward of the Limpopo. Its horns are very 
valuable for loading rods, supplying a substance at once suitable 
for a sporting implement and excellent for the purpose. Both 
these varieties of rhinoceros attain an enormous size, being the 
animals next in magnitude to the elephant. They feed solely on 
grass, carry much fat, and their flesh is excellent, being preferable 
to beef. They are of a much milder and more inofl"ensive dispo- 
sition than the black rhinoceros, rarely charging their pursuer. 
Their speed is very inferior to that of the other varieties, and a 
person well mounted can overtake and shoot them. The head of 
these is a foot longer than that of the borele. They generally 
carry their heads low, whereas the borele, when disturbed, carries 
his very high, which imparts to him a saucy and independent air. 
Unlike the elephants, they n(;ver associate in herds, but are met 
with singly or in pairs. In districts where they are abundant, 
from three to six may be found in company, and I once sew up. 
ward of a dozen congregated together on some young grass, but 
such an occurrence is rare. 

That magnificent animal the eland is by far the largest of all the 
antelope tribe, exceeding a large ox in size. It also attains an ex- 
traordinary condition, being often burdened with a very large 
amount of fat. Its flesh is most excellent, and is justly esteemed 
above all others. It has a peculiar sweetness, and is tender and 



292 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



fit for use the moment the animal is killed. Like ti e gemsbok, 
tiic eland is independent of water* and frequents the borders of tl e 
great Kalahari desert in herds varying from ten to a hundred. 1* 
is also generally diffused throughout all the wooded districts of 
the interior where I hunted. Like other x^arieties of deer and 
antelope, the old males may often be found consoritng together 
apart from the females, and a troop of these, when in full condition, 
may be likened to a herd of stall-fed oxen. The eland has less 
qjeed than any other variety of antelope : and, by judicious riding, 
ihey may be driven to camp from a great distance. In this man- 
ner I have often ridden the best bull out of the herd, and brought 
him within gunshot of my wagons, where I could more conveni- 
ently cut up and preserve the flesh, without the trouble of send 
ing men and pack -oxen to fetch it. I have repeatedly seen an 
eland drop down dead at the end of a severe chase, owing to his 
plethoric habit. The skin of the eland I had just shot emitted, 
like most *»ther antelopes, the most delicious perfume of trees, and 
giaas. 




HUNTING THE GIRAFFE. 



292 




CHAPTER L. 



HUNTING THE GIRAFFE. — HABITS OF THE ELEPHAN\ 

R. GUMMING thus describ**^ tus 
giraffe. These gigantic and ex« 
quisiteiy beautiful animals, which 
are admirably formed by nature 
to adorn the fair forests that clothe 
the boundless plains of the mter- 
ior,are widely distributed through- 
out the interior of Southern Africa, 
but are nowhere to be met with 

in great numbers. In countries 
unmolested by the intrusive foot of man, the giraffe is found gen- 




294 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



erally in herds varying froiii twelve to sixteen ; but I have not 
unfrequently met with herds containing thirty individuals, and on 
one occasion I counted forty together ; this however was ov/ing to 
chance, and about sixteen may be reckoned as the average number 
of a herd. These herds are composed of giraffes of various sizes, 
from the young giraffe of nine or ten feet in height, to the dark chest- 
nut-colored old bull of the herd, whose exalted head towers above 
his companions, generally attaining a height of upward of eighteen 
fc~t. The females are of lower stature and more delicately 
formed than the males, their height averaging from sixteen to 
seventeen feet. Some writers have discovered ugliness and a 
want of grace in the giraffe, but I consider that he is one of the 
most strikingly beautiful animals in the creation ; and when a herd 
of them is seen scattered through a grove of the picturesque 
parasol-topped acacias which adorn their native plains, and on 
whose uppermost shoots they are enabled to browse by the colossal 
height with which nature has so admirably endowed them, he 
must indeed be slow of conception who fails to discover both grace 
and dignity in all their movements. 

On the 25th, at dawn of day, we inspanned, and trekked abou*. 
five hours in a northeasterly course, through a boundless open 
country, sparingly adorned with dwarfish old trees. In the dis- 
tance the long-sought mountains of Bamangwato at length loomed 
blue before me. We halted beside a glorious fountain, which at 
once made me forget all the cares and difficulties I had encoun- 
tered in reachmg it. The name of this fountain was Massouey, but 
I at once christened it '^ the Elephant's own Fountain." This 
was a very remarkable spot on the southern borders of endless 
elephant forests, at which I had at length arrived. The fountain 
was deep and strong, situated in a hollow at the eastern extremity 
of an extensive vley, and its margin was surrounded by a level 
stratum of solid old red sandstone. Here and there lay a thick 
layer of soil upon the rock, and this was packed flat wiwh the 
fresh spoor of elephants. Around the water's edge the very rock 
was worn down by the gigantic feet which for ages had tro(t 
den there. 



HUNTING THE GIRAFFE. 297 



The soil of the surrounding country was white and yellow sand, 
but grass, trees, and bushes were abundant. From the borders 
of the fountain a hindred well-trodden elephant foot-paths led 
liway in every direction, like the radii of a circle. The breadth 
of these paths was about three feet ; those leading to the nortn* 
ward and east was most frequented, the country in those directions 
being well wooded. We drew up the wagons on a hillock on the 
jastern side of the water. This position commanded a good view 
)f any game that might approach to drink. I had just cooked 
my breakfast, and commenced to feed when I heard my men ex- 
claim. " Almagtig keek de ghroote clomp cameel ;" and raising my 
eyes from my sassayby stew, I beheld a truly beautiful and very 
unusual scene. From the margin of the fountain there extended 
an open level vley, without tree or bush, that stretched away about 
a mile to the northward, where it was bounded by extensive 
groves of wide-spreading mimosas. Up the middle of this vley 
Btalked a troop of ten colossal giraffes, flanked by two large herds 
of blue wildebeests and zebras, with an advanced guard of pallahs. 
They were all coming to the fountain to drink, and would be 
withm rifle-shot of the wagons before I could finish my breakfast. 
I, however, continued to swallow my food with the utmost expedition, 
having directed my men to catch and saddle Colesberg. In a 
few mmutes the giraffes were slowly advancing within two hun- 
dred yards, stretching their graceful nercks, and gazing in wonder 
at the unwonted wagons. Grasping my rifle, I now mounted 
Colesberg, and rode slowly toward them. They continued gazing 
at the wagons until I was within one hundred yards of them, 
when, wisking their long tails over their rumps, they made off al 
an easy canter. As I pressed upon them they increased their 
pace ; but Colesberg had much the speed of them, and before we 
had proceeded half a mile I was riding by the shoulder of the 
dark-chestnut old bull, whose head towered above the rest. Letting 
fly at the gallop, I wounded him behind the shoulder ; soon after 
«vhich I broke him from the herd, and presently going ahead of 
him, he came to a stand. I then gave him a second bullet, some- 
where near the first. These two shots had taken efl^ect, ard h« 



298 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



was now m my power, but I would not lay him low so far from 
camp ; so, having waited until he had regained his breath, I drove 
him half way back toward the wagons. Here he became obstreper- 
ous ; so loading one barrel, and pointing my rifle towards the 
clouds, I shot him in the throat, when, rearing high, he fell back- 
ward and expired. This was a magnificent specimen of the 
giraffe, measuring upward of eighteen feet in height. I stood for 
nearly half an hour engrossed in the contemplation of his extreme 
beauty and gigantic proportions ; and if there had been no ele- 
phants, I could have exclaimed like Duke Alexander of Gordon 
when he killed the famous old stag with seventeen tine, ^' Now I 
can die happy." But I longed for an encounter with the noble 
elephants, and I thought little more of the giraffe than if I had 
killed a gemsbok or an eland 

Before proceeding further with my narrative, it may here be in- 
teresting to make a few remarks on the African elephant and his 
habits. The elephant is widely difl^used through the vast forests, 
and is met with in herds of various numbers. The male is very 
much larger than the female, consequently much more difficuh to 
kill. He is provided with two enormous tusks. These are long, 
tapering, and beautifully arched ; their length averages from six 
to eight feet, and they weigh from sixty to a hundred pounfls each. 
In the vicinity of the equator the elephants attain to a greater size 
than to the southward ; and I am in possession of a pair of tusks 
of the African bull elephant, the larger of which measures ten feet 
nine inches in length, and weighs one hi^ndred and seventy-three 
pounds. The females, unlike the Asiatic elephants in this re- 
spect, are hkewise provided with tusks. The price which the 
hrgest ivory fetches in the English market is from £28 to £32 
per hundred and twelve pounds. Old bull elephants are found 
singly or in pairs, or consorting together in small herds, varying 
from six to twenty individuals. The younger bulls remain for 
many years in company of their mothers, and these are met to- 
gether in large herds of from twenty to a hundred individuals. The 
food of the elephant consist of the branches, leaves, and roots of 
irees. and alsj of a variety of bulbs, of the situation of which he 



HABITS OF THE ELEPHANT. 299 



as advised by his exquisite sense of smell. To obtain these he 
turns up the ground with his tusks, and whole acres may be seen 
thus plowed up. Elephants consume an immense quantity of 
food, and pass the greatel part of the day and night in feeding. 
Like the whale in the ocean, the elephant on land is acquainted 
with, and roams over, wide and extensive tracts. He is extremely 
particular in always frequenting the freshest and most verdan 
districts of the forest ; and when one district is parched and barren, 
he M\ ill forsake it for years, and wander to great distances in quesi 
of better pasture. 

The elephant entertains an extraordinary horror of man, and a 
child can put a hundred of them to flight by passing at a quartei 
of a mile to windward ; and when thus disturbed, they go a long 
way before they halt. It is surprising how soon these sagacious 
animals are aware of the presence of a hunter in their domains. 
When one troop has been attacked, all the otl er elephants fre- 
quenting the district are aware of the fact within two or three 
days, when they all forsake it, and migrate to distant parts, leaving 
the hunter no alternative but to inspan his wagons, and remove 
to fresh ground. This constitutes one of the greatest difficulties 
which a skilful elephant-hunter encounters. Even in the most 
remote parts, which may be reckoned the head-quarters of the 
elephant, it is only occasionally, and with inconceivable toil and 
hardship, that the eye of the hunter is cheered by the sight of one. 
Owing to habits peculiar to himself, the elephant is more inac- 
cessible, and much more rarely seen, than any other game quad- 
ruped, excepting certain rare antelopes. They choose for their 
resort the most lonely and secluded depths of the forest, generally 
at a very great distance from the rivers and fountains at which 
they drmk. In dry and warm weather they visit these waters 
nightly, but in :;ool and cloudy weather they drink only once 
every third or fourth day. About sundown the elephant leaves 
his distant mid-day haunt, and commences his march toward the 
fountain, which is probably from twelve to twenty miles distant 
This he generally reaches between the hours of nine and mid- 
night, when, having slacked his thirst and cooled his body bjf 



800 HUNTING ADVENTTTRES. 



epoutiog large volumes of water over his back with his trun^, h« 
resumes the path to his forest solitudes. Having reached a 
secluded spot, I have remarked that full-grown hulls lie down on 
their broadsides, about the hour of midnight, and sleep for a few 
hours. The spot which they usually select is an ant-hill, and 
they lay around it with their backs resting against it ; these hills, 
formed by the white ants, are from thirty to forty feet in diameter 
at their base. The mark of the under tusk is always deeply im- 
printed in the ground, proving that they lie upon their sides. I 
never remarked that females had thus lain down, and it is only in 
the more secluded districts that the bulls adopt this practice ; for I 
observed that, in districts where the elephants were liable to fre- 
quent disturbance, they took repose standing on their legs beneath 
some shady tree. Having slept, they then proceeded to feed ex- 
tensively. Spreading out from one another, and proceeding in . 
zigzag course, they smash and destroy all the finest trees in the 
forest which happen to lie in their course. The number of goodly 
trees which a herd of bull elephants will thus destroy is utterly 
incredible. They are extremely capricious, and on coming to a 
group of five or six trees, they break down not un frequently the 
whole of them, when, having perhaps only tasted one or two 
small branches, they pass on and continue their wanton work of 
destruction. I have repeatedly ridden through forests where the 
trees thus broken lay so thick across one another that it was 
almost impossible to ride through the district, and it is in situations 
such as these that attacking the elephant is attended with most 
danger. During the night they will feed in open plains and 
thinly- wooded districts, but as day dawns they retire to the 
densest covers within reach, and which nine times in ten are com- 
posed of the impracticable wait-a-bit thorns and hem they remain 
drawn up in a compact herd during the heat of the day. In re- 
mote districts, however, and in cool weather, I have known herdi 
vo continue pasturing throughout the whole day. 

The pace of the elepbant, when undisturbed, is a bold, free 
sweeping step ; and a' his movements are attended with a pecu 
liar gentleness and grace 



flUNTINQ RHINOCEROSES. 



rfOl 




A BLAUWBOX, 



MR. 



CHAPTER LI 

GUMMING CHASED BY A RHINOCEROS. 




N the 22d, says Mr. Gumming, 

ordering my men to move oa 

toward a fountain m the centra 

of the plain, I rode forth witli 

Ruyter,and held east through a grove of lofty 

and vvide-spreadmg mimosas, most of which 

were more or less damaged by the gigantic 

strength of a troop of elephants, which had 

, passed there about twelve months before. 

^-y Having proceeded about two miles with 

brge herds of game on every side, I observed a crusty- looking old 
bull bo-Me, or black rhinoceros, cockmg his ears one hundred 



802 HTJNTINa ADVENTURES. 



yards in advance. He had not observed us ; and soon after he 
walked slowly toward tks, and stood broadside to, eating some 
wait-a-bit thorns within fifty yards of me. I fired from my saddle, 
and sent a bullet in behind his shoulder, upon whxh he rushed 
forward about one hundred yards in tremendous consternation, 
blowmg like a grampus, and then stood looking about him. Pre- 
sently he made off. I followed, but found it hard to come up with 
him. When I overtook him I saw the blood running freely from 
his ^vound. 

The chase led through a large herd of blue wildebeests, zebras, 
and springboks, which gazed at us in utter amazement. At length 
I fired my second barrel, but my horse was fidgety, and I missed. 
I continued riding alongside of him, expecting in my ignorance 
that at length he would come to bay, which rhinoceroses never 
do ; when suddenly he fell flat on his broadside on the ground, 
but, recovering his feet, resumed his course as if nothing had hap- 
pened. Becoming at last annoyed at the length of the chase, as I 
wished to keep my horses fresh for the elephants, and being indif- 
ferent whether I got the rhinoceros or not, as I observed that his 
horn was completely worn down with age and the violence of his 
disposition, I determined to bring matters to a crisis ; so, spurring 
my horse, I dashed ahead, and rode right in his path. Upon this 
the hideous monster instantly charged me in the most resolute 
manner, blowing loudly through his nostrils ; and, although I 
quickly wheeled about to my left, he followed me at such a furious 
pace for several hundred yards, with his horrid horny snout within 
a few yards of my horse's tail, that my little Bushman, who was 
looking on in great alarm, thought his master's destruction inevita- 
ble. It was certainly a very near thing ; my horse was extremely 
afraid, and exerted his utmost energies on the occasion. The rhi- 
noceros, however, wheeled about, and continued his former course, 
and I, being perfectly satisfied with the interview which I had 
already enjoyed with him, had no desire to cultivate his acquaint- 
ance any further, and accordingly made for camp. We reft the 
fountain of Bootlonamy the same day, and marched about six 




r fm^ili*Wi;l*lli»' 



AFRICAN GAME. 305 



miles through an old gray foresi of mimosas, when we hahed for 
the night. Large flocks of Guinea-fowls roosted in the trees 
around our encampment, several of which I shot for my supper. 

On the 23d we inspanned by moonlight, and continued our 
march through a thinly-wooded, level country. It was a lovely 
morning ; the sun rose in great splendor, and the sky was beauti- 
fully overcast with clouds. Having proceeded about ten miles, 
the country became thickly covered with detached forest trees 
and groves of wait-a-bit thorns. The guides now informed us 
that the water, which is called by the Bechuanas " Lepeby," 
was only a short distance in advance, upon which I saddled steeds, 
and rode ahead with the Bushman, intending to hunt for an hour 
before breakfast. Presently we reached an open glade in the 
forest, where I observed a herd of zebras in advance ; and on my 
left stood a troop of springboks, with two leopards watching them 
from behind a bush. I rode on, and soon fell in with a troop of 
hartebeests, and, a little after, with a large herd of blue wilde- 
beests and pallahs. I followed these for some distance, when 
they were re-inforced by two other herds of pallahs and wilde- 
beests. Three black rhinoceroses now trotted across my path. 
Presently I sprang from my horse, and fiped right and left at a 
princely bull blue wildebeest. He got both balls, but did not fall ; 
and I immediately lost sight of him in the dense ranks of his 
shaggy companions. The game increased as we proceeded, until 
the whole forest seemed alive with a variety of beautifully-colored 
animals. On this occasion I was very unfortunate ; I might have 
killed any quantity of game if venison had been my object ; but I 
was trying to get a few very superior heads of some of the mastef 
bucks of the pallahs. Of these I wounded four select old bucks 
but in the dust and confusion caused by the innumerable quantity 
cf the game I managed to lose them all. 

We had now ridden many miles from the wagons ; and feeling 
faint from want of food, I dropped the chase in disgust, and, with- 
out looking at my compass, ordered the Bushman to go ahead 
My attention had been so engrossed with the excitement of the 
pursuit, that I had r,ot the remotest idea of the course I had taken 

20 



806 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



md the whole country exhibited such an aspect of sameness, that 
there was no landmark or eminence of any description by which 
to steer. Having ridden many miles through the forest, I at 
length asked the Bushman, in whom on such occasions I gene- 
rally placed great confidence, if he was sure he was riding in the 
right direction, and, as he appeared quite confident, I allowed him 
10 proceed. At length he said that we had gone a little too far to 
the left, and led me away several miles to the right, which was 
westerly ; whereas the wagons eventually proved to be a lung 
way to the east. I felt convinced that we were wrong, and, rein- 
mg up, a discussion arose between us, the Bushman still main- 
taining that we must ride west, while I was certain that our course 
should be east. I now adopted my own opinion, and, having 
ridden many miles in an easterly direction, we were at one time 
close upon the wagons, when the thick-headed Bushman declared 
that if I persevered we should never see the wagons again, and I 
with equal stupidity yielded to his advice, and a southwesterly 
course was once more adopted. Having ridden for many miles, 
1 again reined up, and again told the Bushman we were wrong ; 
upon which he for the first time acknowledged that he knew no- 
thing at all about the matter, but stated it to be his impression that 
we ought to ride further to the west. My head was so confused 
that I lost all.recollection of how we had ridden ; and while I was 
deliberating what I should do, I observed a volume of smoke a 
long way to the north, which I at once imagined had been kindled 
by my followers to guide their lost master tt) the wagons. 

With revived spirits, I stirred my jaded steed and made for the 
smoke ; but, alas ! this only served to lead me further astray. 
After riding many miles in that direction, I discovered that the fire 
was at an amazing distance, and could not have been kindled by 
my men ; it was the wild Bakalahari of the desert burning thu 
old dry grass. I was now like a seaman in a hurricane — at my 
wit's end — I knew not how to ride nor what to do. The sun, 
which had just risen when I left the wagons, was about to set. 
There was no landmark whatever by which to steer ; 1 mighl 
wander for days, aod not discover water. 



SUFFERING FROM THIRST. 30 



To find the wagons was comparatively a trifle. I thought I'^tle 
of them ; it was the thought of water that harrowed my mind. 
Already the pangs of thirst began to seize me. I had ridden all 
day, under the hot sun, and had neither eaten nor drunk since 
early the preceding evening. I felt faint and weary, and my heart 
sank as horrible visions of a lingering death by maddening thirst 
arose before me. Dismounting from my horse, I sat down to 
think what I should do I knew exactly by my compass the 
course we had beer^ steering since we left Booby. I accordingly 
resolved to ride southwest for many miles, the course of the 
wagons having been northeast, and then to send Ruyter across 
the country a httle to the north of west, while I should hold a 
corresponding course in an easterly direction. By this means 
one of us could not fail to find the spoor, and I arranged that at 
nightfall we should meet at some conspicuous tree. Having thus 
resolved, I mounted my horse, which was half dead with thirst 
and fatigue, and, having ridden southwest for several miles, I and 
Ruyter separated at a conspicuous tree, and rode in opposite 
directions. Before riding far I recognized the country as being 
the spot where I had seen the leopards in the morning. I at 
once followed Ruyter, and fired several signal shots, which he 
fortunately heard, and soon joined me. We then rode due east, 
and eventually, to my inexpressible gratification, we discovered 
the spoor of the wagons, which we reached after following it for 
about four miles in a northeasterly direction. 

Our poor horses were completely exhausted, and could barely 
walk to the camp. I found my wagons drawn up beside the 
strong fountain of Lepeby, which, issuing from beneath a stratum 
of while tufous rock, formed an extensive deep pool of pure water, 
adorned on one side with lofty green reeds. This fountain was 
situated at the northern extremity of a level bare vley, surrounded 
by dense covers of the wait-a-bit thorns. Such a peculiar same- 
ness characterized the country, that a person wandering only a 
few hundred yards from the fountain would have considerable 
difficulty in regaining it. It was night when I reached the 



308 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



wagons, and two or three cups of coflee soon restored mft ^* ny 

wonted vigor. 

On the foliowinor morning, from earhest dawn until we trekked, 
which we did about 10 A. M., large herds of game kept pouring 
in to drink from every side, completely covering the open space, 
and imparting to it the appearance of a cattle fair ; blue wilde- 
beests, zebras, sassaybies, pallahs, springboks, &c., capered fear- 
lessly up to the water, troop after troop, within two hundred yards 
of us. In former years a tribe of Bechuanas had frequented this 
fountain, and I beheld the skeletons of many rhinoceroses and of 
one elephant bleaching in the sun ; but the powerful and cruel 
Matabili had attacked the tribe, and driven them to seek a home 
elsewhere. I shot a pallah and a wildebeest, which we secured 
behind the wagons. About 10 A. M. we inspanned, and within 
a mile of Lepeby we passed through another similar open vley, 
containing a strong fountain of delicious water. We continued 
our march till sundown through an undulating open country, 
thinly covered with detached trees and thorny bushes, and en- 
eamped in a sandy desert without water. 




ADVENTURE WITH ELEPHANTS. 



309 




CHAPTER LIL 

AL VENTURE WITH ELEPHANTS. — HABITS OF THE LION. 

N the 27th, as day dawned, say* 
Mr. Gumming, I left my shooting- 
^^r-^ hole, and proceeded to inspect the 
spoor of my wounded elephant. 
( After following it for some distance I came 
) to an abrupt hillock, and fancying that from 
4~ ^ the summit a good view might be obtained 
•^^^^^*^ "^ of the surrounding country, I left my fol- 
0;^^=^^\ -^ lowers to seek the spoor, while 1 ascended. 
I did not raise my eyes from the ground until I had reached the 
highest pinnacle of rock. I then looked east, and to my inex- 
pressible gratification, beheld a troop of nine or ten elephants 
quietly browsmg within a quarter of a mile of me. I allowed 
myself only one glance at them, and then rushed down to waru 
my followers to be silent. A council of war was hastily held, the 
result of which was my ordering Isaac to ride hard to camp, with 
instructions to return as quickly as possible, accompanied by Klein- 
boy, and ta bring me my dogs, the large Dutch rifle, and a fresh 




310 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



horse. I once more ascended the hillock to feast my eyes upon 
the enchanting sight before me, and, drawing out my spy-glass, 
narrowly watched the motions of lie elephants. The herd con 
sisted entirely of fern lies, several of which were followed by small 
calves. * 

Presently, on reconnoitering the surrounding country, I dis- 
covered a second herd, consisting of five bull elephants, which 
were quietly feeding about a mile to the northward. The cowa 
were feeding toward a rocky ridge thai stretched away from the 
base of the hillock on which I stood. Burning with impatience 
to commence the attack, I resolved to try the stalking system wit^ 
these, and to hunt the troop of bulls with dogs and horses. Hav- 
ing thus decided, 1 directed the guides to watch the elephants 
from the summit of the hillock, and with a beating heart I ap- 
proached them. The ground and wind favoring me, I soon gained 
the rocky ridge toward which they were feeding. They were 
now within one hundred yards, and I resolved to enjoy the plea- 
sure of watching their movements for a little before I fired. They 
continued to feed slowly toward me, breaking the branches from 
the trees with theij* trunks, and eating the leaves and tender 
shoots. I soon selected the finest in the herd, and kept my eye 
on her in particular. At length two of the troop had walked 
slowly past at about sixty yards, and the one which I had selected 
was feeding with two others, on a thorny tree before me. 

My hand was now as steady as the rock on which it rested ; 
so, taking a deliberate aim, I let fly at her head a little behind the 
eye. She got it hard and sharp, just where I aimed, but it die* 
not seem to affect her much. Uttering a loud cry, she wheeled 
about, when I gave her the second ball close behind the shoulder 
All the elephants uttered a strange rumbling noise, and made off 
in a line to the northward at a brsk ambhng pace, their huge, 
fan-like ears flapping in the ratio of their speed. I did not wait 
Id load, but ran back to the hillock to obtain a view. On gaining 
its summit, the guides pointed out the elephants : they were stand- 
ing in a grove of shady trees, but the wounded one was some dis- 
tance behind with another elephant, doubtless its particular friend, 




W 



ADVENTURE WITH ELEPHANTS. 318 

who was endeavoring to assist it. These elephants had probably 
never before heard the report of a gun, and, having neither seen 
nor smelt me, they were unaware of the presence of man, and did 
not seem inclined to go any further. Presently my men hove in 
sight, bringing the dogs ; and when these came up, I waited some 
time before commencing the attack, that the dogs and horses 
might recover their wind. We then rode slowly toward the ele- 
phants, and had advanced within two hundred yards of them 
when, the ground being open, they observed us and made off in 
an easterly direction ; but the wounded one immediately dropped 
astern, and the next moment was surrounded by the dogs, which, 
barking angrily, seemed to engross her attention. 

Having placed myself between her and the retreating troop, i 
dismounted to fire within forty yards of her, in open ground. 
Colesberg was extremely afraid of the elephants, and gave me 
much trouble, jerking my arm when I tried to fire. At length I 
let fly ; but, on endeavoring to regain my saddle, Colesberg de- 
dined to allow me to mount ; and when I tried to lead him, and 
run for it, he only backed toward the wounded elephant. At this 
moment I heard another elephant close behind ; and on looking 
about, I beheld the ^^ friend," with uplifted trunk, charging down 
upon me at top speed, shrilly trumpeting, and following an old 
black pointer named Schwart, that was perfectly deaf, and trotted 
along before the enraged elephant quite unaware of what was be 
hind him. I felt certain that she would have either me or my 
horse. I, however, determined not to relinquish my steed, but to 
hold on by the bridle. My men, who of course kept at a safe dis- 
tance, stood aghast with their mouths open, and for a few seconds 
my position was certainly not an enviable one. Fortunately, how 
ever, the dogs took off the attention of the elephants ; and just a.* 
\hey were upon me, I managed to spring into the saddle, where I 
was safe. As I turned my back to mount, the elephants were so 
rery near that I really expected to feel one of their trunks lay hold 
of me. I rode up to Kleinboy for my double-barreled two-grooved 
rifle : he and Isaac were pale and aimost speechless with fright 
Eleturning to the charge, I was soon once more alongside, and. 



314 HUNTING ADVENTURES 



firing from the saddle, I sent another brace of buljets into lK« 
wounded elephant. Colesberg was extremely ansteady, and de- 
stroyed the correctness of my aim. 

The friend now seemed resolved to do some mischief, and 
charged me furiously, pursuing me to a distance of several hun- 
dred yards. I therefore deemed it proper to give her a gentle 
hmt to act less officiously, and, accordingly, having loaded, I 
approached within thirty yards, and gave it her sharp, right and 
left, behind the shoulder, upon which she at once n.ade off with 
droopmg trunk, evidently with a mortal wound. I never recur 
to this day's elephant shooting without regretting my folly in 
contenting myself with securing only one elephant. The first was 
now dying, and could not leave the ground, and the second was 
also mortally wounded, and I had only to follow and finish her ; 
but I foolishly allowed her to escape, while I amused myself with 
the first, which kept walking backward, anu -<*anding by every 
tree she passed. Two more shots finished he- ' on receiving 
them, she tossed her trunk up and down two or thi^r nmes, and, 
faUing on her broadside against a thorny tree, which yielded fike 
grass before her enormous weight, she uttered a deep hoarse cry 
end expired. This was a very handsome old cow elephant, and 
was decidedly the best in the troop. She was in excellent con- 
dition, and carried a pair of long and perfect tusks. I was in high 
spirits at my success, and felt so perfectly satisfied with having 
killed one, that, although it was still early in the day, ana my 
horses were fresh, I allowed the troop of five bulls to remain un- 
molested, foolishly trusting to fall in with them next day. How 
little did I then know of the habits of elephants, or the rules to be 
adopted in hunting them, or deem it probable I should never see 
them more ! »»**♦» 

Although the dignified and tnily monarchical appearance of 
the lion has long rendered him famous among his fellow quad- 
nipeJs, and his apj.sarance and habits have often been described 
by abler pens than mine, nevertheless I consider that a few re- 
marks, resultmg from my own personal experience, formed by a 
♦ Wably long acquaintance with him both by day and by night, 



HABITS OF THE LION. 315 



gnay not prove uninteresting to the reader. There is sc mething 
so noble and imposing in the presence of the Hon, when seen 
walking with dignified self-possession, free and undaunted, on his 
native soil, that no description can convey an adequate idea of his 
striking appearance. The lion is exquisitely formed by nature for 
the predatory habits which he is destined to pursue. Combining 
in comparatively small compass the qualities of power and agility^ 
he is enabled, by means of the tremendous machinery with which 
nature has gifted him, easily to overcome and destroy almost every 
beast of the forest, however superior to him in weight and stature 

Though considerably under four feet in height, he has little 
difficulty in dashing to the ground and overcoming the lofty and 
apparently powerful giraffe, whose head towers above the trees 
of the forest, and whose skin is nearly an inch in thickness. The 
lion is the constant attendant of the vast herds of buffaloes which 
frequent the interminable forests of the interior ; and a full-grown 
one, so long as his teeth are unbroken, generally proves a match 
for an old bull buffalo, which in size and strength greatly sur- 
passes the most powerful breed of English cattle : the hon also 
preys on all the larger varieties of the antelopes, and on both 
rarieties of the gnoo. The zebra, which is met with ir. large 
herds throughout the interior, is also a favorite object of his 
pursuit. 

Lions do not refuse, as has been asserted, to feast upon the 
venison that they have not killed themselves. I have repeatedly 
discovered hons of all ages which had taken possession of, and 
were feasting upon, the carcases of various game quadruped? 
which had fallen before my rifle. The lion is very generally 
diffused throughout the secluded parts of Southern Africa. IJe 
is, however, nowhere met with in great abundance, it being very 
rare to find more than three, or even two, families of lions fre- 
quenting the same district and drinking at the same fountain 
When a greater number were met with, I remarked that it was 
owing to long-protracted droughts, which, by drying nearly alJ 
the fountains, had compelled the game of various districts to 
crowd the remaininp- springs, and the lions, according to theil 



316 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



custom, followed in their wake. It is a common thing to come 
upon a full-grown lion and lioness associating with three or four 
large ones nearly full-grown ; at other times full-grown males will 
06 found associating and hunting together in a happy state of 
friendship : two, three, and four full-grown male lions may thus 
be discovered consorting together. 

The male Hon is adorned with a long, rank, shaggy mane 
^hich in some instances almost sweeps the ground. The coloi 
of these manes varies, some being very dark, and others of a 
golden yellow. This appearance has given rise to a prevailing 
opinion among the Boers that there are two distinct varieties of 
lions, which they distinguish by the respective names of " Schwart 
fore life" and '^ Chiel fore life :" this idea, however, is erroneous. 
The color of the lion's mane is generally influenced by his age. 
He attains his mane in the third year of his existence. I have 
remarked that at first it is of a yellowish color ; in the prime of 
life it is blackest, and when he has numbered many years, but 
still is in the full enjoyment of his power, it assumes a yellowish- 
gray, pepper-and-salt sort of color. These old fellows are cun- 
ning and dangerous, and most to be dreaded. The females are 
utterly destitute of a mane, being covered with a short, thick, 
glossy coat of tawny hair. The manes and coats of lions fre- 
quenting open-lying districts utterly destitute of trees, such as the 
borders of the great Kalahari desert, are more rank and handsome 
than those inhabiting forest districts. 

One of the most striking things conn'^cted with the lion is his 
voice, which is extremely grand and peculiarly striking. It con- 
fiists at times of a low, deep moaning, repeated five or six times, 
ending in faintly audible sighs; at other times he startles the 
forest with loud, deep-toned, solemn roars, repeated five or six 
times in quick succession, each increasing in loudness to the third 
or fourth, when his voice dies away in five or six low, muffled 
Bounds, very much resembling distant thunder. At times, and 
not unfrequently, a troop may be heard roaring in concert, one 
assi^ming the lead, and two, three, or four more regularly taking 
«.» heir parts, Hke persons singing a catch. Like our Scottish 



HABITS OF THE LION. 317 



stags at the rutting season, they roar loudest in cold, fn sty nights; 
but on no occasions are their voices to oe heard in such perfection, 
07 so intensely powerful, as when two or three strange troops of 
lions approach a fountain to drink at the same time. When thia 
occurs, every member of each troop sounds a bold roar of defiance 
at the opposite parties ; and when one roars, all roar together, and 
each seems to vie with his comrades in the intensity and power 
of his voice. The power and grandeur of these nocturnal foiest 
concerts is inconceivably striking and pleasing to the hunter's ear. 
The effect, I may remark, is greatly enhanced when the hearer 
happens to be situated in the depths of the forest, at the dead hour 
of midnight, unaccompanied by any attendant, and ensconced 
within twenty yards of the fountain which the surrounding troops 
of lions are approaching. Such has been my situation many 
scores of times; and though I am allowed to have a tolerably 
good taste for music, I consider the catches with which I was 
ihen regaled as the sweetest and most natural I ever heard. 

As a general rule, lions roar during the night ; their sighing 
moans commencing as the shades of evening envelop the forest, 
and continuing at intervals throughout the night. In distant and 
secluded regions, however, I have constantly heard them roaring 
loudly as late as nine and ten o'clock on a bright sunny morning. 
In hazy and rainy weather they are to be heard at every hour in 
the day, but their roar is subdued. It often happens that when 
two strange male lions meet at a fountain a terrific combat ensues, 
which not unfrequently ends in the death of one of them. The 
habits of the lion are strictly nocturnal ; during the day he lies 
concealed beneath the shade of some low bushy tree or wide- 
spreading bush, either in the level forest or on the mountain side. 
He is also partial to lofty reeds, or fields of long, rank yellow 
grass, such as occur in low-lying vleys. From these haunts he 
sallies forth when the sun goes down, and commences his nightly 
piowl. When he is successful in his beat and has secured his 
prey, he does not roar much that night, only uttering occasionally 
& few low moans ; that is, provided no intruders approach him 
otherwise the cane would be very diflferent. 



818 HUNTING ADVENTUKES. 



Lions are ever most active, daring-, and presuming in dark and 
stormy nights, and consequently, on such occasions, the traveller 
ought more particularly to be on his guard. I remarked a fact 
connected with the lions' hour of drinking peculiar to themselves : 
they seemed unwilling to visit the fountains with good moonlight. 
Thus, when the moon rose early, the lions deferred their hour of 
watering until late in the morning ; and when the m.oon rose late, 
they drank at a very early hour in the night. By this acute 
system many a grisly lion saved his bacon, and is now luxuriating 
in the forest of South Africa, which had otherwise fallen by the 
barrels of my " Westley Richards." Owing to the tawny color 
of the coat with which nature has robed him, he is perfectly 
invisible in the dark ; and although I have often heard them 
loudly lapping the water under my very nose, not twenty yards 
from me, I could not possibly make out so much as the outline of 
their forms. When a thirsty lion comes to water, he stretches out 
his massive arms, lies down on his breast to drink, and makes a 
loud lapping noise in drinking not to be mistaken. He continues 
lapping up the water for a long while, and four or five times 
during the proceeding he pauses for half a minute as if to take 
breath. One thing conspicuous about them is their eyes, which, 
in a dark night, glow like two balls of fire. The female is more 
fierce and active than the male, as a general rule. Lionesses 
which have never had young are much more dangerous than those 
which have. At no time is the lion so much to be dreaded as 
when his partner has got small young ones. At that season he 
knows no fear, and, in the coolest and most intrepid manner, he 
will face a thousand men. A remarkable instance of this kind 
came under my own observation, which confirmed the reports 1 
had before heard from the natives. One day, when out elephant 
hunting in the territory of the " Baseleka," accompanied by two 
hundred and fifty men, I was astonished suddenly to behold a 
majestic lion slowly and steadily advancing toward us with a 
dignified step and undaunted bearing, the most noble and imposing 
that can be conceived. Lashing his tail from side to side, and 
growling haightily, his terribly expressive «ye resolutely fixed 



HABITS OP THE LION, 



819 




BAST INDIAN TIGER. 



upon US, and displaying a show of ivory well calculated to inspire 
terror among the timid '* Bechuanas," he approached. A head- 
long flight of the two hundred and fifty men was the immediate 
result ; and, in the confusion of the moment, four couples of my 
dogs, which they had been leading, were allowed to escape in 
their couples. These instantly faced the hon. who, finding that 
by his bold bearing he had succeeded in puttmg his enemies to 
flight, now became solicitous for the safety of his little family, with 
which the honess was retreating in the back-ground. Facing 
about, he followed after them with a haughty and independent 
step, growling fiercely at the dogs which trotted along on eithei 
side of him. Three troops of elephants having been discovered a 
few minutes previous to this, upon which I was marching for the 
attack, I, with the most heartfelt reluctance, reserved my fire 
On running down the hill side to endeavor to recall my dogs, I 
observed, for the first time, the retreating honess with four cubs. 
A-bout twenty minutes afterward two noble elephants repaid my 
•lorbearance. 

Among Indian Nimrods, a certain class of royal tigers is dig- 
aified with the appellation of " man-eaters." These are Vge^t 



§20 fitJNTING ADVENTURES. 



which, having once tasted human flesh, show a predilection fof 
the same, and such characters are very naturally famed and 
dreaded among the natives. Elderly gentlemen of similar tastes 
and habits are occasionally met with among the lions in the inte- 
rior of South Africa, and the danger of such neighbors may be 
easily imagined. I account for lions first acquiring this taste in the 
following manner : the Bechuana tribes of the fax interior do not 
bury their dead, but unceremoniously carry them forth, and leave 
them lying exposed in the forest or on the plain, a prey to the lion 
and hyaena, or the jackal and vulture ; and I can readily imagine 
that a Hon, having thus once tasted human flesh, would have httle 
hesitation, when opportunity presented itself, of springing upon 
and carrying ofl^ the unwary traveller or " Bechuana" inhabitmg 
his country. Be this as it may, man-eaters occur; and on my 
fourth hunting expedition, a horrible tragedy was acted one dark 
night in my little lonely camp by one of these formidable cha- 
racters, which deprived me, in the far wilderness, of my most 
valuable servant. In winding up these few observations on the 
lion, which I trust will not have been tiresome to the reader, I 
may remark that lion-hunting, under any circumstances, is deci* 
dedly a dangerous pursuit. It may nevertheless be followed, to a 
certain extent, with comparative safety by those who have natu- 
rally a turn for that sort of thing. A recklessness of death, per- 
fect coolness and self-possession, an acquaintance with the dispo- 
sition and manners of lions, and a tolerable knowledge of the us« 
of the rifle, are indispensable to him who would shine in the 
overpoweringly exciting pastime of hunting this justly celebrated 
K/jg of beasts. 




ELEPHANT HUNTING IN THE EAST D'CIES, 



823 




CHAPTER LIIL 

ELEPHANT HUNTING IN THE EAST INDIES. 

lEUT.-COL. JAMES 
CAMPBELL, a bravs 
and talented officer, af- 
fords us the following 
particulars of a personaJ 
adventure in Ceylon : — 
1 was reading to beguile 
the time during the heat 
of the day (says the coIo 
nel) when one of the 
servants ran into our hut, 
in gr-^at alarm, exciaiming 
ihat he had just seen an elephant in a clump ,.f trees, to which he 
pointed, not more than three hundred yards ofl'. I, at least, had no 
wish whatever to encounter such an antagonist, if I could avoid 
doing so ; but it was in council deemed advisable to dislodge him, 
as otherwise we might have to move our encampment ; and to do 
if none of us were inclined. It was therefore settled that w 




824 HUNTINQ ADVENTURES. 



should attack him ; that is, if we could not by any other means in 
duce him to retire, and that too without delay. Having carefully 
loaded our guns with brass balls, we moved forward all three to* 
gether ; the Malays, who seemed greatly to enjoy the fun, form ng 
a supporting column in our rear. It was also arranged, that if 
the elephant stood his ground, I was to have the first shot ; } ow 
then was it possible for me not to perform my part upon the or '.a- 
«ion ? By entering at a projecting point of the jungle, and being » rd 
much against his will, by the servant who said that he had seen 
the elephant, we were able tc come within a short distance of h»m, 
before Le could perceive us. When he did so, or rather wnen 
he heard the noise which we could not avo'd making in approach- 
ing him, however cautiously, he suddenly turned round upon us 
cracking and breaking the smaller trees and branches, as he 
shuffled forwards towards the edge of the clump of jungle, so as 
to face us. I thmk we were then not mo^e than fifteen yards 
from his head. I fired, and my two companions did so likewise 
and with the utmost coolness ; when down fell the huge creature, 
quite dead, almost at our feet ! But to our astonishment, away 
went some other elephants and a buffalo, which we had no idea 
were in the middle of the cover, trumpeting loudly and crashing 
every thing that obstructed their passage ; and most fortunately 
for us, they did not seem to have missed their unlucky companion, 
as we could hear them, for some time, continuing their impetuous 
course through the jungle, and towards the wooded hills to the 
eastward. As for the buffalo, in her hurried attempt to escape, 

she took to the right and thus fully exposing herself, Mr. F 

fired his second barrel at her, which breaking one of her fore iegs 
she fell, with a great crash, not more than twelve yards from us; 

and whilst she was endeavoring to rise, Mr. C sent the bai, 

from his other barrel through her body, which instantly ended hei 
sufferings. I confess, however, I should have been glad had she 
escaped, as she seemed to be only half wild. We had in this 
instance managed admirably, and we were therefore not a little 
proud of ourselves ; for upon examining the elephant, which, 
'hough 'arge, had very short tusks, we lound that no less than 



ELEPHANT HUNTING tN THE EAST INDIES. 325 



two of the balls had entered the brain, and the third had penetrated 
the head from the root of the trunk. This feat was performed and 
were all back in the huts, talking the matter over, in less than 
half an hour from the time we had left them. 

The young elephants which are reared in the British Indian 
settlements are principally produced by the females that are taken 
wild at the time they are in calf. It does not appear that there is 
any difficulty in the education of these little ones, who are accus- 
tomed to a domestic state from their birth ; but that they are 
gradually accustomed to bear burthens, and become obedient to 
the commands of their keepers. In the kingdom of Ava, where the 
female elephants belonging to the king are in a state of half wild- 
ness, there is considerable trouble in reducing the young ones to 
submission. 

When we consider the enormous strength of the elephant, 
which enables him to break through all ordinary means of confine- 
ment, and at the same time regard not only his ability to resist 
any violent attack, but his sagacity to elude any common stratagem, 
it must be evident that the business of his capture must be a task 
requiring equal courage and activity — great skill and presence of 
mind in the individuals engaged in it — and, when conducted upon 
a large scale, a combination of human force such as is seldom used 
except in the more prodigal game of war. 

The rudest mode of taking the elephant is by digging a pit in 
his native forests, which is covered over with loose boa-rds and the 
boughs and grass upon which he feeds. This is mentioned as the 
custom of Ceylon a century ago ; and the Sieur Brue describes 
this as the mode of taking the elephant for his flesh, by the Afri 
cans of Senegal. Mr. WiUiamson states that in places where the 
natives find the elephants destructive neighbors, they dig a pit 
covered with a slight platform of branches and grass, towards 
which the herd is seduced by a tame elephant, when the leading 
pursuer is precipitated into the trap, and the remainder retire in 
great alarm. This practice is evidently not very successful ; and 
we apprehend that the instinctive caution of the elephant not to 
tread upon any insecure ground must render it unavailing, except 



826 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



when his natural prudence gives way to the more powerful im 
pulses of terror or desire. "The mode of getting elephants out 
of pits," according to Mr. Williamson, " is somewhat curious, but 
extremely simple. The animal is for the most part retained unti. 
sufficiently tractable to be conducted forth ; when large bundles of 
jungle grass tied up into sheaves being thrown to him, he is gra- 
dually brought to the surface, at least to such an elevation as may 
enable him to step out." The elephant will do the same if he is 
swamped in boggy ground, thrusting the bundles of grass and 
straw into the yielding earth with his heavy feet, and placing 
them so around him with his trunk that he at lasts obtains a firm 
footing. Pliny, who mentions the manner of taking elephants in 
pits, says that the companions of the unfortunate animal who is 
thus captured will throw branches and masses of earth into the 
hole to assist in his deliverance. 

In Nepaul, and in the countries bordering on the northern fron- 
tiers of India, where the elephants are of a small size, they are 
often captured by the natives with a phaun, or slip knot. This 
practice has some analogy with the custom of taking horses with 
the lasso, in the Pampas. The hunter, seated on a docile ele- 
phant, round whose body the cord is fastened, singles out one 
from the wild herd ; and cautiously approaching, throws his pliable 
rope in such a manner that it rests behind the ears, and over the 
brows of the animal pursued. He instinctively curls up his trunk, 
making an effort to remove the rope ; which, with great adroitness 
on the part of the hunter, is then passed forward over the neck. 
Another hunter next comes up, who repeats the process ; and 
thus the creature is held by the two tame elephants, to whom 
the phauns are attached, till his strength is exhausted. It would 
appear quite impossible to take a large elephant in this manner ; 
although with those of a peculiarly small breed the operation does 
not appear more difficuh than that of securing the wild horse or 
the buffalo in the plains of South America. 

It is remarkable that in every mode of capturing the wild ele* 
phant. man avails himself of the docility of individuals of the same 
species, which he has already subdued. Birds may be taught to 



ELEPHANT HUNTING IN THE EAST INDIES. 327 

tts§ist in ensnaring other birds ; but this is simply an eflect of habit 
The elephant, on the contrary, has an evident desire to join its 
master in subduing its own race ; and, in this treachery to its kind, 
exercises so much ingenuity, courage, and perseverance, that we 
cannot find a parallel instance of complete subjection to the will of 
him to whom it was given to " have dominion over the fish of the 
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that 
moveth upon the earth." 

The various modes of capturing wild elephants in India navo 
undergone little variation for several centuries ; and they are more 
or less practised in all parts of Asia where elephants are still re- 
quired to maintain the splendor of Oriental luxury — to assist in 
the pomp and administer to the pride of despotic monarchs ; or, as 
is the case in the British Eastern establishments, to bear the heavy- 
equipage of an Indian camp, or to labor in the peaceful occupa- 
tions of transporting those articles of commerce, which are far too 
vrcighty to be moved by the power of the horse or camel. 




B23 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 





THE SABLB. 

CHAPTER LIV. 

HUNTING THE MARTEN, SABLE, GENET AND CIVET. 

HE Pine Marten, a native of the North, and an in- 
habitant of the pine forests, whence it derives its 
name, is abundant in Siberia and the northern por- 
tions of America, and is not uncommon among the 
wooded ravines in the wild mountainous districts 
of Scotland and Wales. It builds its habitation chiefly on the tops 
of the fir, or seizes on the already formed nest of the squirrel, or 
some bird, whence it drives the owner, and enlarges for its own 
convenience. It is rather less than the former, but its fur is finer 
and darker, and the throat and breast yellow, instead of white. 
In summer they assume a hghter tinge, and their hair becomes 
shorter : in winter their toes are well protected by long wool, which 
drops ofTas the weather gets warm. Its habits are similar to the 
common Marten, but more fierce ; it never meets the wild cat 
without a deadly encounter, and is sometimes victorious even ovt* 
the golden eagle, when that bird pounces on it as its prey, seizing 
the aggressor hy the throat, and bringing it lifeless to the gro'ind 
Formerly, the fur of this species formed a lucrative article of export 
from Scotland ; at present immense quantities are brought from 
Siberia, and in one year, the Hudson Bay Company alone sold 
fifteen thousand skins. 

The Sable inhabits the same countries in the North, and has 
sometimes been confounded with the former which it strongly lesem* , 
bles in structure and habits ; but Professor Pauas, who examir'''4 it o« 



HUNTING THE CIVET. 331 




THE CIVET. 

Its native soil, has assigned it its place as a distinct species. It is 
somewhat larger in size than the pine marten ; its head is rather more 
slightly depressed, and its muzzle rather more elongated ; the soles 
of the feet more villous, and finally, the fur on its hody is more beauti- 
ful, soft, long, black, and shining, and the hair turns with ease either 
way ; the skin is consequently more valuable, and one of them not 
exceeding four inches broad, has sometimes been valued as high 
as fifteen pounds. The tails are sold by the hundred, at from four 
to eight pounds sterling. The exiles in Siberia are required to 
furnish a certain number of skins annually, from which the Rus- 
sian government is said to derive a considerable revenue. The 
smell of the marten tribe is rather agreeable. They are taken in 
traps and also hunted with the musket. 

The Civet, a native of the warmest climates of Africa and Asia, 
can yet subsist in more temperate latitudes : it is upwards of two 
feet in length, exclusive of the tail, which is more than one foot, 
and tapering. It stands from ten to twelve inches high ; has a 
lengthened muzzle like a fox, straight ears, whiskers like a cat, with 
bright eyes. Their fur is of a brownish-grey color, diversified 
with numerous stripes and *. egular spots of black ; aloag the 
dorsal runs a kind of mane formed of black hairs, which the 
animal can raise or depress at pleasure. It is a fierce creature, 
and though tamed, is yet never thoroughly familiar; its food, hke 
what of the rest of the family, is birds and small animals. The 
perfume, for which it is particularly valued, is very strong, and ia 
lound, of the color and consistence of pomatum, in a pouch undei 



S32 HUNTING iVDVENTDRES. 




THE aSNET 

Jie anus. Great numbers were wont to be bred in Holland, where 
no small emolument was derived from this luxury. The quantity 
which a single animal affords, depends upon its health and 
nourishment: in confinement, its favorite food is raw flesh cut 
sir^ll, egga, rice, fowl, and fish. The perfume is collected twice 
or thrice a week, and is said to be more plentiful if the animal be 
irritated. That of Amsterdam is recorded the best, being gener- 
ally the purest, though that brought from Guinea would exceed it, 
could it be procured free from adulteration. — The Javanese Civet 
is not more than from fifteen to eighteen inches long : the muzzle 
is narrow, the ears short, the back strongly arched, and the tail 
is as long as the body. The ground color of the fur is of a much 
brighter grey than that of the common civet, surmounted with a 
broad dorsal line of black, and on each side two or three narrower 
black lines of confluent spots. Over the rest of the body these 
spots are thickly but irregularly scattered. The head is greyish 
and has no spots ; and the legs are externally black. They live 
on animal and vegetable food, and are said to be revengeful and 
savage. 

The Genet, a native of Spain, Africa, and the South of Asia, 
is smaller than the civet, and soiriewhat htuger than the marten, 
but in its leading characters resembles the former: it secretes also 
a perfume similar to the civet, but less strong, and therefore more 
agreeable : it is easily tamed, is very cleanly, and keeps houses 
perfectly free from rats and mice. All these animals are taken in 
iraps. 

Opposed to these sweet-smelling weasels, at the extremes! pomt 
is the Skunk, peculiar to North America : in length it is abou 



HUNTING THE SKUNK. 333 




THE SKUNK. 

eighteen inches ; its legs are short, and its body broad and flat ; 
■carcely two of them are colored alike, but they generally are 
black or brown, with white spots or stripes. In its appetite for 
petty carnages, it emulates any of the tribe ; but what renders it 
chiefly remarkable, is the fetid odor which it discharges upon 
its assailants when attacked, who, be they men or dogs, as soon as 
they find this extraordinary battery played off against them, in- 
stantly turn tail and leave the animal undisputed master of the 
field, glad to escape from the intolerable stench, perhaps smarting 
with pain, if the approach be too near, so as co allow a drop of 
the pestilent fluid to strike the eye. The hunting of the skunk it 
not a favorite sport. It is usually shot, whenever discovered '^y 
Ihe fkrmer8> whose poultry he is very much addicted to stealing 



S34 



HUNTING ADVENTUKES. 




CHAPTER LV. 




KILLING, CUTTING UP, COOKING AND EATING AN ELEPHANTi 
T an early hour on the 24th, says Mr. Cum« 
ming, upon the strength of the report brought 
to us on the preceding evening, I took the 
field with Isaac and Kleinboy as after- riders, 
accompanied by Mutchuisho and a hundred 
and fifty of his tribe. We held a north- 
easterly course, and, having proceeded about 
five miles through the forest, reached a foun- 
tain, where I observed the spoor of a herd of cow elephants, two 
days old. Here we made a short halt, and snuff was briskly cir- 
culated, while the leading men debated on the course we were to 
follow, and it was agreed thit we should hold for the Bakalahari 
kraal. Having continued our course for several miles, we rounded 
ihe northern extremity of a range of rocky mountains which rose 
abruptly in the forest and stretched away to the south of east in 
a long-continued chain. Here we were met by men whom Mut- 
chuisho had dispatched before day-break, who said that the Baka* 



SEAROH FOR ELEPHANTS. 335 



lahan women had that morning seen elephants. This was joyous 
news. My hopes were high, and I at once felt certain that the 
hour of triumph was at hand. But disappointment was still in 
store for me. We ail sat down on the grass, while men were 
dispatched to bring the Bakalahari, and when these came we 
ascertained that it was only spoor and not elephants they had 
seen. We held on for an inspection of it ; and here I was further 
to be disappointed, the spoor proving to be two days old. 

The country now before me was a vast level forest, extending 
to the north and east for about twenty miles without a break. At 
that distance, however, the landscape was shut in by blue moun- 
tain ranges of considerable height, and two bold conical moun- 
tains standing close together rose conspicuous above the rest. 
These mountains, the Bamangwato men mformed me, were their 
ancient habitation, and that of their forefathers, but the cruel Mata- 
bili had driven them from thence to the rocky mountains which 
they now occupy. We continued our course in an easterly direc- 
tion, and twice crossed the gravelly bed of a periodical river, in 
which were several small springs of excellent water. These 
springs had been exposed by elephants, which had cleared away 
the gravel with their trunks. Around these springs the spoor of 
rhinoceros was abundant. After proceeding several miles through 
a dry and barren tract, where wait-a-bit thorns prevailed, we 
entered upon more interesting ground. The forest was adorned 
with very picturesque old trees of various sorts and sizes, which 
stood singly and in shady groups, while the main body of the 
forest consisted of a variety of trees of other sorts, averaging the 
height of a giraffe. The elephants had left abundant traces of 
their presence, but all the marks were old. Fresh spoor of giraffe 
was imprinted on the ground on every side, and we presently saw 
e large herd of tliese, standing scattered through the forest to oui 
left. They were glorious fellows, but I was now m pursuit ot 
nobler game : the natives were leading me to some distant foun- 
tain, where they expected we should discover spoor. 

On we sped through the depths of the forest, our view being 
tonfined to about fifty yards on every side. Presently emerging 



«J36 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



Upon a small open glade, I observed a herd of brindled gnoos and 
two or three troops of pallahs ; and soon after, a second herd of 
about fifteen camelopards stood browsing before us, and, getting 
our wind, dashed away to our left. We had proceeded about two 
miles further, and it was now within two hours of sunset, when, 
lo ! a thorny tree, newly smashed by an elephant. Some of the 
natives attentively examined the leaves of the broken branches to 
ascertain exactly when he had been there, while some for the 
same purpose overhauled the spoor. It was the spoor of a first- 
rate bull : he had fed there that morning at the dawn of day 
The ground was hard and bad for spooring, but the natives 
evinced great skill, and, following it for a short distance, we came 
to ground where a troop of bull elephants had pastured not many 
hours before. Here the thorny trees on every side were demo 
lished by them, and huge branches and entire trees were rent and 
uprooted, and lay scattered across our path, having been carried 
several yards in the trunks of the elephants before they stood to 
eat the leaves : the ground also was here and there plowed up by 
their tusks in quest of roots ; and in these places the enormous 
fresh spoor — that thrilling sight to a hunter's eye — was beauti- 
fully visible. 

All this was extremely interesting and gratifying ; but I had 
been so often disappointed, and it was now so very near sunset, 
that I entertained but faint hopes of finding them that evening. 
Mutchuisho was very anxious that I should see the elephants ; he 
had divested himself of his kaross, and, carrying one of the mus- 
kets which Sicomy had bought from me, he led the spooring 
party, consisting of about fifteen cunning old hands. The great 
body of the men he had ordered to sit down and remain quiet 
until the attack commenced. Having followed the spoor for a 
short distance, old Mutchuisho became extremely excited, and 
told me that we were close to the elephants. A few minutes after 
several of the spoorers affirmed that they had heard the elephants 
break a tree in advance ; they differed, however, about the direc- 
tion, some saying it was in front, and others that it was away to 
our left. Two or three men quickly ascended the tallest tree* 



PISCOVER A HERD OF BULL ELEPHANTS. 337 



iha*. stood near us, but they could not see the elepnants. Mut- 
chuisho tnen extended men to the right and left, while wc con- 
tinued on the spoor. 

In a few minutes one of those who had gone off to our left came 
running breathless to say that he had seen the mighty game. I 
halted for a minute, and instructed Isaac, who carried the big 
Dutch rifle, to act independently of me, while Kleinboy was to 
assist me in the chase ; but, as usual, when the row began, my 
followers thought only of number one. I bared my arms to the 
shoulder, and, having imbibed a draught of aqua pura from the 
calabash of one of the spoorers, I grasped my trusty two-grooved 
rifle, and told my guide to go ahead. We proceeded silently aa 
might be for a few hundred yards, following the guide, when he 
suddenly pointed, exclaiming, "Klow!" and befofn %s stood a 
herd of iriighty bull elephants, packed together bejM>«ih a shady 
grove about a hundred and fifty yards in advance. I rode slowly 
toward them, and, as soon as they observed me, they made a loud 
rumbhng noise, and, tossing their trunks, wheeled right about and 
made off in one direction, crashing through the forest and leaving 
a cloud of dust behind them. I was accompanied by a detach- 
ment of my dogs, who assisted me in the pursuit. 

The distance I had come, and the difficulties I had undergone, 
to behold these elephants, rose fresh before me. I determined 
that on this occasion at least I would do my duty, and, dashing 
my spurs into " Sunday's" ribs, I was very soon much too close 
in their rear for safety. The elephants now made an inclination 
to my left, whereby I obtained a good view of the ivory. The 
herd consisted of six bulls ; four of them were full-grown, first-rate 
elephants ; the other two were fine fellows, but had not yet 
arrived at perfect stature. Of the four old fellows, two had much 
finer tusks than the rest, and for a few seconds I was undecided 
which of these two I would follow ; when, suddenly, the one 
which I fancied had the stoutest tusks broke from his comrades, 
and I at once felt convinced that he was the patriarch of the herd, 
and follnved him accordingly. Cantering alongside, I was abou' 
to fire, when he instantly turned, and, uttering a f inipet so strong 

22 



538 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



and shrill that the earth seemed to vibrate beneath my feet, he 
charged furiously after me for several hundred yards in a direct 
line, not altering his course in the slightest degree for the trees of 
the forest, which he snapped and overthrew like reeds in his 
headlong career. 

When he pulled up in his charge, I likewise halted ; and as he 
slowly turned to retreat, I let fly at his shoulder, " Sunday" Ciper* 
ing and prancing, and giving me much trouble. On receiving the 
ball the elephant shrugged his shoulder, and made ofT at a free 
majestic walk. This shot brought several of the dogs to my assist 
ance which had been following the other elephants, and on theii 
coming up and barking another headlong charge was the result, 
accompanied by the never-failing trumpet as before. In his 
charge he passed close to me, when I saluted him with a second 
bullet in the shoulder, of which he did not take the slightest 
notice. I now determined not to fire again until I could make a 
steady shot; but, although the elephant turned repeatedly, " Sun- 
day" invariably disappointed me, capering so that it was impos- 
sible to fire. At length, exasperated, I became reckless of the 
danger, and, springing from the saddle, approached the elephant 
under cover of a tree, ana gave him a bullet in the side of the 
head, when, trumpeting so shrilly that the forest trembled, he 
charged among the dogs, from whom he seemed to fancy that the 
blow had come ; after which he took up a position in a grove of 
thorns, with his head toward me. I walked up very near, and, 
as he was in the act of charging (being in those days under wrong 
impressions as to the impracticability of bringing down an elephant 
with a shot in the foreheads, stood coolly m his path until he was 
within fifteen paces of me, and let drive at the hollow of his fore- 
head, in the vain expectation that by so doing I should end his 
career. The shot only served to increase his fury — an effect 
which, I had remarked, shots in the head invariably produced ; 
and, continuing his charge with incredible quickness and impetu- 
osity, he all but terminated my elephant-hunting forever. A hrge 
party of the Bechuanas who had come up yelled out simultane- 
ously, imagining I was killed, for the elephant was at one moment 



THE CONFLICT. 839 



almost on the top of me : I, however, escaped by my activity, and 
by dodging round the bushy trees. As the elephant was charging, 
an enormous thorn ran deep into the sole of my foot, the old 
Badenoch brogues, which I that day sported, being worn through j 
and this caused me severe pain, laming me throughout the rest of 
the conflict. 

The elephant held on through the forest at a sweeping pace ; 
but he was hardly out of sight when I was loaded and in the 
saddle, and soon once more alongside. About this time 1 heard 
[saac blazing away at another bull ; but when the elephant 
charged, his cowardly heart failed him, and he very soon made 
his appearance at a safe distance in my rear. My elephant kept 
crashing along at a steady pace, wi'th blood streaming from his 
wounds ; the dogs, which were knocked up with fatigue and 
thirst, no longer barked around him, but had dropped astern. It 
was long before I again fired, for I was afraid to dismount, and 
<» Sunday" was extremely troublesome. At length I fired sharp 
right and left from the saddle ; he got both balls behind the 
shoulder, and made a long charge after me, rumbling and trum- 
peting as before. The whole body of the Bamangwato men had 
now come up, and were following a short distance behind me. 
Among these was Mollyeon, who volunteered to help ; and being 
a very swift and active fellow, he rendered me important service 
by holding my fidgety horse's head while I fired and loaded. I 
then fired six broadsides from the saddle, the elephant charging 
almost every time, and pursuing us back to the main body in our 
rear, vi?ho fled in all directions as he approached. 

The sun had now sunk behind the tops of the trees : it would 
Tery soon be dark, and the elephant did not seem much distressed, 
notwithstanding all he had received. I recdlected that my time 
was short, and therefore at once resolved to fire no more from tho 
saddle, but to go close up to him and fire on foot. Riding up to 
him, I dismounted, and, approaching very near, I gave it him 
right and left in the side of the head, upon which he made a long 
and determined charge after me ; but I was now very reckless of 
his charges, for I saw that he could not overlake me, and in a 



840 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



twinkling I was loaded, and, again approaching, fired sharp Tighf 
and left behind his shoulder. Again he charged with a terrific 
trumpet, which sent " Sunday" flying through the forest. Thia 
was his last charge. The wounds which he had received began 
to tell on h:s constitution, and he now stood at bay beside a 
thorny tree, with the dogs barking around him. These, refreshed 
by the evening breeze, and perceiving that it was nearly over with 
the elephant, had once more come to my assistance. Having 
loaded, I drew near and fired right and left at his forehead. On 
receiving these shots, instead of charging, he tossed his trunk up 
and down, and by various sounds and motions, most gratifying to 
the hungry natives, evinced that his demise was near. Again I 
loaded, and fired my last shot behind his shoulder: on receiving 
it, he turned round the bushy tree beside which he stood, and I 
ran round to give him the other barrel, but the mighty old monarch 
of the forest needed no more ; before I could clear the bushy tree. 
he fell heavily on his side, and his spirit had fled. My feelings 
at this moment can only be understood by a few brother Nimrods 
who have had the good fortune to enjoy a similar encounter. I 
nei^er felt so gratified on any former occasion as I did then. 

By this time all the natives had come up ; they Avere in the 
highest spirits, and flocked around the elephant, laughing and 
talking at a rapid pace. I clrmbed on to him, and sat enthroned 
upon his side, which was as high as my eyes when standing on 
the ground. In a few minutes night set in, when the natives, 
having illuminated the jungle with a score of fires, and formed a 
semicircle of bushes to windward, lay down to rest without par 
taking of a morsel of food. Mutchuisho would not allow a man to 
put an assagai into the elephant until the morrow, and pkced two 
relays of sentries to watch on either side of him. My dinner con- 
sisted of a piece of flesh from the temple of the elephant, which I 
Droiled on the hot embers. In the conflict I had lost my shirt* 
which v/as reduced to streamers by the wait-a-bit thorns, and all 
ihe clothing that remained was a pair of buckskin knee-breeches. 

The night was very cold, it being now the dead of the African 
winter. Hav'ig collected dry grass, I spread it beside a fire* 



CUTTING UP THE ELEPHANT. 341 

and lay down for the night with no other covering than an old 
sheep-skin which I had used for a saddle-cloth. Shortly afte! 
I had dropped asleep, Mutchuisho, commiserating my bare con- 
dition, spread an old jackal kaross over me. This kaross, as all 
Bechuana garments are, was thickly tenanted by small transparent 
insects, usually denominated hce. These virulent creatures, pro- 
bably finding my skin more tender than that of the owner of the 
kaross, seemed resolved to enjoy a banquet while they could ; and 
presently I awoke with my whole body so poisoned and inflamed 
that I felt as if attacked with a severe fever. All further rest that 
night was at an end. I returned the kaross to Mutchuisho, with 
grateful acknowledgments for his polite intentions ; and piling dry 
wood on the fire, which emitted a light as bright as day, I aroused 
the slumbering Kleinboy to assist me in turning my buckskins 
outside in, when an animating " chasse*' commenced, which termi 
nated in the capture of about fourscore of my white-currant colored 
visitors. I then ht another fire opposite to the first, and spent the 
remainder of the night squatted between the two, thus imbibing 
caloric before and behind. 

As the sun rose on the morning of the 25th, Mutchuisho gave 
the word to cut up the elephant, when a scene of blood, noise, and 
turmoil ensued which baffles all description. Every native there, 
divested of his kaross and armed with an assagai, rushed to the 
onslaught ; and in less than two hours every inch of the elephant 
was gone, and carried by the difl^erent parties to their respective 
temporary locations, which they had chosen beneath each con- 
venient tree that grew around. 

The manner in which the elephant is cut up is as follows: The 
rough outer skin is first removed, in large sheets, from the side 
which lies uppermost. Several coats of an under skin are then 
met witk. This skin is of a tough and pliant nature, and r's used 
by the natives for making water-bags, in which they convey sup- 
plies of water from the nearest vley or fountain (which is often ten 
miles distant) to the elephant. They remove this inner skin with 
caution, taking care not to cut it w'*.h the assagai ; and it is formecj 



£J42 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 

nto water-bags by gathering the corners and edges, and transfix > 
ng the whole on a pointed wand. The flesh is then removed in 
jnormous sheets from the ribs, when the hatchets come into play 
with which they chop through, and remove individually, each 
rolossal rib. The bowels are thus laid bare ; and in the removal 
of these the leading men take a lively inteiest and active part, for 
It is throughout and around the bowels that the fat of the elephant 
IS mainly found. 

There are few things which a Bechuana prizes so highly as fat 
of any description ; they will go an amazing distance for a small 
portion of it. They use it principally in cooking their sun-dried 
biltongue, and they also eat it with their corn. The fat of the 
elephant lies in extensive layers and sheets in his inside, and the 
quantity which is obtained from a full-grown bull, in high con- 
dition, is very great. Before it can be obtained, the greater part 
of the bowels must be removed. To accomplish this, several men 
eventually enter the immense cavity of his inside, where they 
continue mining away with their assagais, and handing the fat 
to their comrades outside until all is bare. While this is tran- 
spiring with the sides and bowels, other parties are equally active 
in removing the skin and flesh from the remaining parts of the 
carcase. The natives have a horrid practice on these occasions 
of besmearing their bodies, from the crown of the head to the sole 
of the foot, with the black and clotted gore ; and in this anointing 
they assist one another, each man taking up the fill in both his 
hands, and spreading it over the back and shoulders of his friend. 
Throughout the entire proceeding an incessant and deafening 
clamor of many voices and confused sounds is maintained, and 
violent jostling and wrestling are practiced by every man, elbow- 
ing the breasts and countenances of his fellows, ail sHppery with 
gore, as he endeavors to force his way to the venison through the 
dense intervening ranks, while the sharp and ready assagai 
gleams in every hand. The angry voices and gory appearances 
of these naked savages, combined with their excited and frantic 
gestures and gUstening arras, presented an efl^ect so wild and 



BAKING elephant's FLESH. 348 



itfiking, that when I first beheld the scene I con^-emj: lated it m 
the momsntary expectation of beholding one half of the gathering 
turn their weapons against the other. 

The trunk and feet are considered a delicacy, and a detachment 
are employed on these. The four feet are amputated at the fet- 
lock joint, and the trunk, which at the base is about two feet in 
thickness, is cut into convenient lengths. Trunk and feet are 
then baked, preparatory to their removal to head-quarters. The 
manner in which this is done is as follows : A party, provided 
with sharp-pointed sticks, dig a hole in the ground for each foot 
and a portion of the trunk. These holes are about two feet deep, 
and a yard in width ; the excavated earth is embanked around the 
margin of the hole. This work being completed, they next col- 
lect an immense quantity of dry branches and trunks of trees, of 
which there is always a profusion scattered around, having been 
broken by the elephants in former years. These they pile above 
the holes to the height of eight or nine feet, and then set fire to 
the heap. When these strong fires have burned down, and the 
whole of the wood is reduced to ashes, the holes and the surround- 
mg earth are heated in a high degree. Ten or twelve men then 
stand round the pit, and rake out the ashes with a pole about six- 
teen feet in length, having a hook at the end. They relieve one 
another in quick succession, each man running in and raking the 
ashes for a few seconds, and then piiching the pole to his comrade 
and retreating, since the heat is so intense that it is scarcely to be 
endured. When all the ashes are thus raked out beyond the 
surrounding "Bank of earth, each elephant's foot and portion of the 
trunk is lifted by two athletic men, standing side by side, who 
place it on their shoulders, and, approaching the pit together, 
they heave it into it. The long pole is now again resumed, and 
with it they shove in the heated bank of earth upon the foot, 
shoving and raking until it is completely buried in the earth. 
The hot embers, of which there is always a great supply, are then 
raked into a heap above the foot, and another bonfire is kindled 
over each, which is allowed to burrv down and die a natural death, 
by which time the enormous foot or trunk will be found to be 



844 HUNTING ADVENTURBg. 



equally baked throughout its inmost parts. When ihe foot is 
supposed to be ready, it is taken out of the ground with pointed 
sticks, and is first well beaten, and then scraped with an assagai, 
whereby adhering particles of sand are got rid of. The outside is 
then pared off, and it is transfixed with a sharp stake for facility 
of carriage. 

The feet, thus cooked, are excellent, as is also the trunk, which 
very much resembles buffalo's tongue. The reason why such 
large fires are requisite is owing to the mass of flesh that must be 
baked. In raking the sand on the foot, the natives are careful not 
to rake the red-hot embers in with it, which would burn and destroy 
the meat ; whereas the sand or earth protects it, imparting an even 
and steady heat. When the natives have cut up the elephant, 
and removed the large masses of flesh, &c , to their respective 
temporary kraals around, they sit down for a little to rest and draw 
their breath, and for a short time smoking and snuffing are indulged 
in. 

The Bechuana pipe is of a very primitive description, differing 
from any I had ever seen. When they wish to smoke they 
moisten a spot of earth, not being particular whence they obtain 
the water. Into this earth they insert a green twig, bent into a 
semicircle, whose bend is below the said earth, and both ends pro- 
truding. They then knead the moist earth down with theii 
knuckles on the twig, which they work backward and forward 
until a hole is estabhshed, when the twig is withdrawn, and one 
end of the aperture is enlarged with the fingers, so as to form a 
bowl to contain the tobacco. The pipe is thus finished and ready 
for immediate use, when tobacco and fire are introduced, and the 
smoker drops on his knees, and, resting on the palms of his hands^ 
he brino-s his lips in contact with the mud at the small end of the 
hole, and thus inhales the grateful fumes. Large volumes of 
smoke are emitted through the nostrils, while a copious flow of 
tears from the eyes of the smoker evinces the pleasure he enjoys. 
One of these pipes will serve a large party, who replenish the 
bowl and relieve one another in succession. 

Tlie natives, having drawn their breath, once more devote theii 



RESULTS OF THE HUNT. Mb 



attention to the flesh, which they next reduce to liltongue, cutting 
every morsel into thin strips from six to twenty feet in length* 
These strips are of the breadth and thickness of a man's two 
fingers. When all is reduced to biltongue, they sally forth with 
their tomahawks, and cut down a number of poles of two sorts, foi 
uprights and cross-poles. The uprights are eight feet long, and 
forked at one end. They place them upright in the ground 
around their respective trees, laying the cross-poles resting on the 
forks, and these are adorned with endless garlands of the raw 
meat, which is permitted to hang in the sun for two or three days, 
when it will have lost much of its weight, and be stiff and easy to 
b*» carried. They then remove the biltongue from the poles, and, 
folding it together, they form it into bundles, which are strongly 
lashed and secured with long strips of the tough inner bark of 
thorny mimosas. Their work in the forest is now completed, and, 
each man placing one bundle on his head, and slinging several 
others across his shoulders, returns to his wife and family at head- 
quarters. 

The appearance which the flesh of a single elephant exhibits 
when reduced to strips and suspended from the poles is truly sur- 
prising, the forest far around displaying a succession of ruby 
festoons, and reminding one of a vineyard laden with its clustering 
fruits. When the skull of my elephant was ready for the axe 
Mutchuisho caused a party to hew out for me the tusks — a work 
of great labor, and needing considerable skill. In the present 
instance the work was clumsily executed, the native hacking and 
injuring the ivory in removing the bone with their little toma* 
hawks. In consequence of this, I invariably afterward performed 
the task myself, using superior American hatchets, which I had 
provided expressly for the purpose. When the tusks had been 
extracted, I saddled up and started for the camp, accompanied by 
my after-riders and a party of the natives bearing the ivory, with 
a supply of baked foot and trunk and a portion of the flesh. The 
natives had appropriated all tlie rest. On our way to camp we 
passed through the kraal of the Bakalahari. In the valleys they 
had large gardens, in which corn and water-melous wer» g^owa 



846 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 







CHAPTER LYL 




1\^ ffTING THE WILD HORSE AND THE WILD ASS. 

|HE wild ass, the Onager of Oppian, Pliny, Ray, &C 
and the Koulan of Mr. Pennant, varies from thj 
tame in several respects. The forehead is much 
arched : the ears are long and erect, even when the 
animal is out of order; sharp pointed a ad lined 
with whitish surling hairs ; the irides are of a livid brown ; the 
hps thick; tkd the end of the nose sloping steeply down to the 
upper lip : aud the nostrils are If rge and oval. It is much higher 
on its limbs than the tame ass, and its legs are much finer, but it 
again resemb'es it in the narrowness of its chest and body: it 
carries its heai much higher; and its skull is of a surprising thin- 
ness. The mane is dusky, about three or four inches long, com- 
posed of so '*. woolly hair, and extends quite to the shoulders : the 
hairs at the 3rid of the tail are coarse, and about a span long. The 
color of the hair in general is silvery white ; the upper part of. 



HUNTING THE WILD ASS. 347 

ihe face, the sides of the neck and body, are of a flaxen color ; the 
hind parts of the thighs are the same ; the fore part divided froro 
the flank by a white hne, which extends round the rump to the 
tail : the belly and legs are also white : along the very top of the 
back, from the mane quite to the tail, runs a stripe of bushy 
waved hairs of a coffee color, broadest above the hind part, grow- 
mg narrower again towards the tail ; another of the same color 
crosses it at the shoulders (of the males only), forming a mark, 
such as distinguishes the tame asses ; the dorsal band and the 
mane are bounded on each side by a beautiful line of white, 
well described by Oppian, who gives an admirable account of the 
whole. Its winter coat is very fine, soft, and silky, much undu- 
lated, and likest to the hair of the camel ; greasy to the touch ; and 
the flaxen color, during that season, more exquisitely bright. Its 
summer coat is very smooth, silky, and even, with exception of 
certain shaded rays that mark the sides of the neck, pointing 
downwards. These animals inhabit the dry and mountainous 
parts of the deserts of Great Tartary, but not higher than lat. 48" 
They are migratory, and arrive in vast troops to feed, during the 
summer, in the tracts E. and N. of lake Aral. About autumn they 
collect in hundreds, and direct their course towards the north of 
India, to enjoy a warm retreat during winter. But Persia is their 
most usual place of retirement ; where they are found in the moun- 
tains of Casbin, some even at all times of the year. Barboga sayS; 
they penetrate even into the southern parts of India, to the mountains 
of Maibar and Golconda. According to Leo Africanus, wild asses 
of an ash color are found in the north deserts of Africa. The Arabs 
lake them in snares for the sake of their flesh. If fresh killed, it 
iS hot and unsavory ; if kept two days after it is boiled, it becomes 
Axcellent meat. These people, the Tartars and Romans, agreed 
m their preference of this to any other food ; the latter indeed chose 
them young, at a period of life in which it was called Lalisio. 
(See Martial, xiii. 97.) The epicures of Rome preferred those 
of Africa to all others. The grown onagri were introduced among 
ihe spectacles of the theatre ; and their combats were preferred even 
to those of th« elephants. The manners of the wild ass are very 



848 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



much the same with those of the wild horse and the dshikketei. 
They assemble in troops under the conduct of a leader ; and are 
very shy. They will, however, stop in the midst of their course, 
and even suffer the approach of a man at that instant, but will then 
dart away with the rapidity of an arrow from the bow. This 
Herodotus mentions, in his account of those of Mesopotamia ; and 
Leo Africanus, in that of the African. Their wildness is beauti* 
fully described in scripture : See Job xxxix. 5—8. Yet they can 
be tamed. The Persians catch and break them for the draught ; 
they make pits, half filled with plants to lessen the fall, and take 
them alive. They break, and hold them in great esteem, and sell 
them at a high price. The famous breed of asses in the east is 
produced from the koulan reclaimed from the savage state, which 
highly improves the breed. The Romans reckoned the breed of 
asses produced from the onager and tame ass to excell a.H others. 
The Tartars, who kill them for the sake of the flesh and skins, 
lie in ambush and shoot them. They have been at all times cele- 
brated for their amazing swiftness ; for which reason the Hebreans 
called them Pcre ; as they styled them Arod from their braying. 
Their food is the saltest plants of the deserts, such as the kalis, 
altriplex, chenopodium, and bitter milky tribe of herbs, &c. : they 
also prefer salt water to fresh. This is exactly conformable to the 
history given of this animal in the book of Job ; for the words 
"barren land," expressive of its dwelling, ought, accordmg to the 
learned Bochart, to be rendered "salt places.'' The hunters lie 
in wait for them near the ponds of brackish water, to which they 
resort to drink ; but they seldom have recourse to water. These 
animals were anciently found in the Holy Land, Syria, the land 
of Uz or Arabia Deserta, Mesopotamia, Phrygia, and Lycaon'a, 
But at present they are entirely confined to the countries above 
mentioned. Shagreen is made of the skin of these animals. The 
Persians use he bile of the wild ass as a remedy against dimnesa 
of sight. 



HUNTING THE WILD HORSE. 



349 




HUNTING THE WILD HORSE. 

The Horse in a domestic slate is a bold and fiery animal ; 
equally intrepid as his master, he faces danger and death with 
ardor and magnanimity. He delights in the noise and tumult 
of arms, and seems to feel the glory of victory : he exults in 
the chase ; his eyes sparkle with emulation in the course. But 
though bold and intrepid, he is docile and tractable ; he knows 
how to govern and check the natural vivacity and fire of his temper. 
He not only yields to the hand, but seems to consult the inclination 
of his rider. Constantly obedient to the impressions he receives, 
his motions are entirely regulated by the will of h's master. He 
in some measure resigns his very existence to the pleasure of man. 
He dehvers up his whole powers ; he reserves nothing ; he will 
rather die than disobey. Who could endure to see a character so 
noble abused ! who could be guilty of such gross barbarity ! This 
character, though natural to the animal, is in some measure the 
effect of education. His education commences with the loss of 
liberty, and is finished by constraint. The slavery of the horse ia 
so ancient and so universal, that he is but rarely seen in the 
natural state. Several ancieni writers talk of wild horses, and 



850 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



even mention the places where they are to be found. Herodotut 
lakes notice of white savage horses in Scythia ; Aristotle says 
they were to be found in Syria ; Pliny, in the northern regions ; 
and Strabo, in Spain and the Alps. Among the moderns, Cardan 
Bays, that wild horses are to be found in the Highlands of Scotland 
and the Orkney Isles ; Olaus, in Muscovy ; Dapper, in the island 
of Cyprus ; Leo and Marmol, in Arabia and Africa, &c. But as 
Europe is almost all inhabited, wild horses are not to be met with 
in any part of it ; and those of America were originally transported 
from Europe by the Spaniards ; for this species of animal did not 
exist in the new world. The Spaniards carried over a great 
number of horses, left them in different islands, &c. with a view 
to propagate that useful animal in their colonies. These have 
multiplied incredibly in the vast deserts of those thinly peopled 
countries, where they roam at large without any restraint. M. 
de Salle relates, that he saw in the year 1635, horses feeding in 
the meadows of North America near the bay of St. Louis, which 
were so ferocious that nobody durst come near them. Oexmelin 
says, that he has seen large troops of them in St. Domingo run- 
ning in the valleys ; that when any person approached they all 
stopped ; and one of them would advance till within a certain dis- 
tance, then snort and take to his heels, and the whole troop after him. 
These relations sufficiently prove, that the horse, when at ful» 
liberty, though not a fierce or dangerous animal, has no inclination 
to associate with mankind ; that all the softness and ductility of his 
temper proceeds entirely from the culture and polish he receives 
in his domestic education, which in some measure commences as 
goon as he is brought forth. 

The wild horse is hunted in North and South America and 
taken for the purpose of being domesticated ; and this, notwith- 
Btandmg his natural wildness, is easily accompHshed. The favo- 
rite m^de of hunting him is with the lasso, which is a long leather 
or raw-hide thong with a noose at the end. This the mounted 
hunter swings round his head and then throws over the head oi 
round the legs of the horse. The inhabitants of Buenos Ayrei 
and Mexico are particularly expert at this exercise. 



HUNTING THE NTL GHAIT. 



351 




CHAPTER LVIL 



HUirrtNa the nyl ghau, the ocelot, and the lynx. 

YL GHAU, or Blue Ox, is a kind of 
antelope, found in India. In the w Id 
slate, these animals are said to be fero- 
cious, but they may be domesticated, 
and in that condition give frequent 
tokens of familiarity, and even of grati- 
tude, to those under whose care they 
^re placed. The female, or doe, is 
.much smaller than the male, and is of a yellowish color, by which 
she is easily distinguished from the buck, who is of a grey tint. 

Its manner of fighting is very particular, and is thus described : 
Two of the males at Lord Olive's being put into an enclosure, 
were observed, while they were at some distance from each other, 
to prepare for the attack, by falling down upon their knees ; they 
then shuffled towards each other, still keeping upon their knees ; 
and, at the distance of a few yards, they made a spring, and 
i'arted against each other with great force. 




852 



HUNTT^"a ADVENTURES, 




THE NYL GHAU. 

The following anecdote will serve to show that these animals 
are sometimes fierce and vicious, and not to be depended upon ;— 
A labormg man, without knowing that the animal was near him, 
went up to the outside of the inclosure ; the Nyl Ghau, with the 
quickness of lightning, darted against the woodwork with such 
violence, that he dashed it to pieces, and broke one of his hornsi 
close to the root. The death of the animal, soon after, was sup- 
posed to be owing to the injury he sustained by the blow. 

The Nyl Ghau is hunted by the natives of Persia and Elm- 
doostan with spears, guns, bows and arrows, and hounds. When 
meditating an attack it falls on its fore knees, as represented in the 
cut at the head of this chapter, and shuffles forward to within a 
short distance of its object, when it darts forward with a powerful 
spring, and butts in the most determined manner. A horse and 



THE MEXICAN TIGER. 



355 




THE OCELOT. 



its rider have been laid prostrate by its onset. The peculiar con« 
formation of its head, neck and shoulders render an attack of this 
kind very formidable. 

The Mexican Tiger, or Ocelot, is extensively spread over the 
South American Continent. Its body, when grown, is nearly 
three feet in length, and its tail more than one ; its medium height 
is about eighteen inches ; the ground color of its fur is gray, 
mingled with a slight tinge of reddish-yellow, darker on the back, 
elegantly marked with longitudinal bands, consisting for the most 
part of a series of elongated spots, faun in the centre, with black 
margins ; its under parts are white : but the colors vary in dif- 
ferent specimens. It climbs trees expertly in search of its prey, 
which consists of birds and small animals. It is nevertheless 
exceedingly powerful, but is easily tamed, and when domesti- 
cated, becomes mild, gentle, and playful. 

The Ocelot is hunted by the natives of Mexico and South 
America with muskets and with poisoned arrows. Its skin is 
greatly valued. 

The Lynx abounds in the s luthern parts of Europe, and north' 



356 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




THE LYNX. 

ern of Asia and America ; has bright eyes, a mid aspect, and 
upon the whole a lively and agreeable appearance. He is about 
the size of the unce. His ears are erect, with tufts of black hair 
at the tips ; his tail is short, and also tipped black ; his fur is 
extremely valuable, of a pale grey color, sometimes with a reddish 
tinge, obscurely marked with small, dusky spots on the upper 
parts of the body ; the under parts are white. He advances by 
leaping and bounding, and will scale the loftiest trees, so that 
neither the wild cat nor squirrel are more secure than the stag or 
the hare. He always fixes on the throat of the animal, and when 
he has sucked the blood, leaves the carcase; thus reveling in 
destruction, and doing immense mischief among the weaker and 
more harmless inhabitants of the forest. He is extremely difficult 
if not impossible to tame. The Caracal^ or lynx of the ancients, 
is common in Barbary, Arabia, and Southern Asia. He is nearly 
three feet in length, including a tail of about ten inches ; in height 
is about fourteen inches : his ears are black and tufted ; the fur on 
tne upper part of the body is of a reddish-brown, the under part 
and inside of the legs white. He follows (it is said) the lion, and 
feeds on the left fragments of his spoil ; but his common fare is 
small anin\als and birds. The kindest usage cannot always over- 
come his native fierceness, but like the former, he will sometimes 
-even turn upon the hand that feeds him. 



HUNTING THE COUGAR. 



c57 




CHAPTER LVIIL 



HUNTING THE COUGAR. — HUNTING SQUIRRELS. 

O OTHER animal of the cat kind 

is so formidable as the Cougar. Il 
is found in North America. 

The Cougar is sometimes im- 
properly called Panther. It is 
the largest animal of the cat kind 
found in North America, and has 
occasionally received the name of 
;merican lion, from the similarity 
"f its proportion and color to the 
T may be stated to be about one- 
' has no mane nor tuft at the ex- 
half the length of the body and 
clothed with a soft and close 
a brownish yellow color, or a 
. occasional patches of a rather 
- markable in certain lights, and 
'he individual. A dark red ii 




lion of the old world. The cou 
third less in size than the lion,£ « 
tremity of the tail, which is aboi 
head. The skin of this animal 
hair over the hmbs and body, 
mixture of red and blackish, wi 
deep reddish tint, which are only 
disappear entirely with the age o 



358- HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



spread over the upper parts, produced by the tips of the k r, 
which is black at the base. The head has a great many gwiy 
hairs upon it ; the whiskers are white, and rise in a blackish spa^e. 

At an early period the cougar was distributed in considerable num- 
bers over the whole of the warm and temperate regions of this conti- 
nent, and is still found, though not abundantly, in the southern, 
middle, and northwestern parts of the Union. It is a savage and 
destructive animal, yet timid ar^d cautious. It climbs, or rather, 
springs up large trees with surprising facility, and in that way 
is enabled, by dropping suddenly upon deer and other quadru- 
peds, to secure prey which it would be impossible for them to 
overtake. The cougar is seldom seen m day-time, but its peculiai 
cry thrills the traveller with horror, during the night. As an in- 
stance of the manner in which the cougar is pursued, and hfs 
behavior when attacked, we quote the following from a late num- 
ber of the Potsdam (N. Y.) Mercury :- 

'* Panther Shot. — The well known hunter, Mr. Charles Parme- 
ter, of this town, who has been out in the woods the last two months 
deer-hunting, killed a few days since in the town of Belmont, in 
.Franklin County, a large panther or catamount, measuring nine 
feet in extreme length, and weighing 247 pounds. Mr. Parmeter 
came upon the track while hunting, and the next day, with a dog 
started with the determination to hunt him up. After a short dis- 
tance he struck the trail and soon came up to where, with a single 
bound, the panther had killed and split entirely open a huge buck, 
apparently carried the same about twenty rods, and partly buried the 
carcase. 

^^ Following on in pursuit, Mr. P. soon came to a mountain ridge 
with huge shelving rocks, in a chasm under one of which he found 
the panther's deft. His dog, with hair erect and exhibiting ex- 
treme fear, refused to enter, when Mr. P., tying a rope around the 
dog's neck, entered himself, dragging his dog after him The 
panther fled by another entrance and took to a very tall spruce tree 
near by. Mr. P. now climbed the ledge of rocks overhead and thus 
found himself on a level with the tree top, and distant about fifty 
feet from the same. The panther was almost hid in the dense 



HUNTING THE COMMON GRAY SQUIRREL. 359 

top, but catching a glimpse of him, he fired in quick succession 
two balls into his body. 

'' The panther had now placed himself with eye fixed on Mr. P., 
in the attitude of springing, when Mr. P. having quickly reloaded 
both barrels of his gun, fired one into the back of his neck, and 
the other through his body : the fourth shot brought him to the 
ground. The dog having now regained courage, rushed in upon 
him, but one bite of the dying panther sent him back howling 
with pain, when springing to his feet the ferocious animal ran 
some twenty rods and fell dead. Mr. P. intends to bring him 
down in a few days and give our citizens a chance to see this 
rarely found animal, whose strength, agilit}'-, ferocity, and tenacity 
of life render him monarch of the forest, and the dreaded foe of 
the most intrepid hunter." 

The Common Gray Squirrel, is exceedingly common m the 
United States, and was once so excessively multiplied as to be a 
scourge to the inhabitants, not only consuming their grain but ex- 
hausting the public treasury by the amount of premiums given for 
their destruction. 

The gray squirrel prefers the oak, hickory and chestnut woods, 
where it finds a copious supply of nuts and mast, of which it pro- 
vides large hordes for the winter. Their nests are placed chiefly 
in tall oak-trees, at the forks of the branches ; these nests are very 
comfortable, being thickly covered and hned with dried leaves. 
During cold weather the squirrels seldom leave these snug retreats, 
except for the purpose of visiting their store houses, and obtainmg 
a supply of provisions. It has been observed that the approach 
of uncommonly cold weather is foretold when these squirrels are 
seen out in unusual numbers, gathermg a larger stock of provi- 
sions, lest their magazines should fail. This, however, is not an 
infallible sign, at least in vicinities where many hogs are allowed 
to roam at large, as these keen-nosed brutes are very expert at 
discovering the winter hoards of the squirrel, which they immedi- 
ately appropriate to their own use. 

If the gray squirrels confined themselves to the diet afforded by 
the forest trees, the farmers would profit considerably thereby. 



860 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




THE COMMON GRAY SQUIRREL. 



But, having once tasted the sweetness of Indian com and othei 
cu'tivated grains, they leav^e acorns and such coarse fare to the 
hogs, while they invade the corn-fields, and carry off and destroy 
a very large quantity. This species is remarkable among all our 
squirrels for its beauty and activity. It is in captivity remarkably 
playful and mischievous, and is more frequently kept aa a pet 
than any other. It becomes very tame, and may be alJowed t© 
spend a great deal of time entirely at hberty, where there is 
nothing exposed that can be injured by its teeth, whicti it is sure 
to try upon every article of furniture, &c. in its vicinity. This 



HUNTING THE GROUND FQUIRREL. 



861 




THE BLACK SQUIRREL. 

•quiirel, when domesticated, drinks frequently, and a considerable 
quar.tity of water at each draught. 

1 he Gray Squirrel varies considerably in color, but is most com 
monly of a fine blueish gray, mingled with a slight golden hue. 
This golden color is especially obvious on the head, along the 
sides, where the white hair of the belly approaches the gray of 
the sides, and on the anterior part of the fore and superior part of 
the hind feet, where it is very rich and deep. This mark on the 
hind feet is very permanent, and evident even in those varieties 
which differ most from the common color. There is one specimen 



3(,2 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 

m the Philadelphia Museum of a light brownish rei on all the 
superior parts of the body. 

The gray squirrel is favorite game of American sportsmen. During 
the cold weather, they are caught in traps, or shot, in great num- 
bers. Their flesh is remarkably tender and delicate. The 
method sometimes used for snaring them is curious, though very 
simple, as it consists of nothing more than setting a number of 
snares all around the body of the tree in which they are seen, and 
arranging them in such a manner that it is scarcely possible for 
the squirrel to descend without being entangled in one of them. 

The Black Squirrel is very common, but is liable to be con- 
founded with the other varieties of the squirrel. It very seldom 
varies. In the summer, the pelage is rather gray on the back and 
sides, though the whole color of the body is a black intermingled 
with a small quantity of gray, and of a dark reddish brown on the 
under parts. In the winter the color is a pure black, varying 
slightly in intensity on any part of the body. The same means 
are used by sportsmen in trapping the black squirrel as in tho 
capture of the common gray species. They are good eating but 
do not possess the playful spirit of some of the other varieties. 

The Ground Squirrel is frequently called the Hackee, or Striped 
Squirrel. 

This squirrel is most generally seen scudding along the lower 
rails of the common zigzag or " Virginia" fences, which afford 
him at once a pleasant and secure path, as in a few turns he finds 
a safe hiding place behind the projecting angles, or enters his 
burrow undiscovered. When no fence is near, or his retreat is 
cut off, after having been out in search of food, he becomes ex- 
ceedingly alarmed, and runs up the nearest tree, uttering a veiy 
shrill cry or whistle, indicative of his distress, and it is in this 
situation th^t he is most frequently made captive by his persecut- 
ing enemies, the mischievous school-boys. 

The ground squirrel makes his burrow generally near the roots 
of trees, aloncr the course of fences and old walls, or in banks ad* 
iacent to forests, whence he obtains his principal supplies of food 
The burrows frequently extend to very considerable distances. 



HUNTING THE GRAY AND BLACK SQUIRREL. 363 




THE GROUND SQUIRREL. 

having several galleries or lateral excavations, in which provi 
sions, are stored for winter use. The burrow has always twc 
openings, which are usually far distant from each other ; it very 
rarely happens that the animal is dug out, unless it be accidentally 
during the winter season. 

The ground squirrel appears to suffer more when made captive 
.ban any other squirrel with which we are acquainted. We have 
several times endeavored to tame individuals of this species, but 
without success. In losing its libert}', the ground squirrel appears 
to lose all vivacity, becomes a dull and melancholy animal, and 



364 fiUNTING AbVENtUBfiS. 



can yield very little amusement or satisfaction to its keeper, whom 
it always flies, or bites severely if not permitted to get out of hia 
reach. 

The ground squirrel is rather more than five inches in length, 
from the nose to the root of the tail ; the last is about two inches 
and a half long. The general color of the head and upper parts 
of the body is reddish brown, all the hairs on these parts being 
gray at the base. The eyelids are whitish, and from the external 
angle of each eye a black line runs towards the ear, while on each 
cheek there is a reddish brown hne. The short rounded ears are 
covered with fine hairs, which are on the outside of a reddish 
brown color, and within of a whivsh gray. The upper part of 
the neck, shoulders, and base of the hair on the back, are of a gray 
brown, mingled with whitish. 

On the back there are five longitudinal black hands, which are 
at their posterior parts bordered sHghtly with red. The middle 
one begins at the back of the head, the two lateral ones on the 
shoulders ; they all terminate at the rump, whose color is reddish 
On each side two white separate the lateral black bands. The 
lower part of the flanks and sides of the neck are of a paler red, 
the exterior of the fore feet is of a grayish yellow ; the thighs and 
hind feet are red above. The upper lip, the chin, throat, belly, 
and internal face of the limbs, are of a dirty brown. The tail is 
reddish at its base, blackish below, and has an edging of black. 

The sportsman regards the ground squirrel as good but not 
extra game. The flesh is very good for the table ; but is inferior 
to that of the more lively gray squirrel. They are occasionally shot 
at, but more frequently snared while they are collecting their food 
for winter use. 

The Fly in o- Squirrel is very common throughout the United 
States. Nature has endowed them with instruments to facilitate 
their passage from place to place in the easiest and most pleasant 
manner. Capable of moving on the bodies and limbs of trees, hke 
other squirrels, it does not require an equal degree of muscular 
strength to leap from tree to tree, or from great elevations to the 
ground, but launching itself from a lofty bough into the air, and 



HUNTING THE FLYINO SQUIRREL. 365 

extending its limbs and the intervening membranes, its body is 
buoyed up, and sails swiftly and obliquely downwards, passing 
over considerable space. To aid in this sailing movement, we 
find the whole body covered with a short and silky fur, lying 
close to the skin. The tail is flattened, and serves as a rudder. 

During the day-light the flying squirrel is rarely to be met 
with abroad, unless it has been disturbed. Occasiona.ly laro-e 
troops are seen together, and their saihng leaps have been said 
to present to the inexperienced the appearance of a large number 
of leaves blown off the trees. Their peculiar construction ana 
habit render them very unfit for hving on the ground, and they 
speedily regain the nearest tree, when at any time they fall short 
of the object towards which they may have leaped. They always 
take advantage of the wind, when about to leap to any distance, 
and then they appear to deserve the name of flying squirrels, 
from the ease and velocity of their movements. 

Individuals are frequently tamed as pets, but are more admired 
on account of the softness of their fur, and the gentleness of their 
dispositions, than for any of the frolicsome and amusing actions 
that characterize other squirrels. When confined in a cace Avith 
a reel appended, they continue running almost uninterruptedly 
throughout the night. 

The flying squirrel makes its nest in hollow trees, where it 
brings forth three or four young at a litter. It is very easy to 
ascertain whether this squirrel has a nest in any hollow tree, by 
knocking against the trunk with a stone or stick ; as soon as the 
jarring is felt, the animal comes to the opening and endeavors to 
escape. In this way the young are very commonly discovered 
and taken. 

The flying squirrel is quite small, being little more than four 
inches and a half long, the tail being three inches and a half in 
length. 

The general color is a brownish ash, with rounded, nearly 
naked ears, and large prominent black eyes. The under parts 
of the body are white, with a yellowish margin, where the cok)i 
oi the back and belly approach each other. 



Z66 



HUNTING Ar VENTURES. 




CHAPTER LIX. 



HUNTING THE AMERICAN ELK, OR WAPITI. 

HE WAPITI was for a long time consi- 
dered as a mere variety of the moose. 
Hearne is justly entitled to the credit 
of having insisted upon the specific dis- 
tinctness of this animal from the moose. 
The size and appearance of the elk are 
imposing ; his air denotes confidence 
of great strength, while his towering 
horns exhibit weapons capable of doing 
n.uch injury when offensively employed. The head is beauti- 
fully formed, tapering to a narrow point ; the ears are large and 
rapidly movable ; the eyes are full and dark ; the horns are lofty, 
and the neck at once slender, vigorous and graceful. The beauty 
of the male elk is still further heightened by the long, forward, 
curlinp- hair, which extends from the head to the breast in the 




HUNTING THE ELK. 367 




THE WAPITI. 



nQann«r oi a ruff or beard The body of the elk is beautifully 
jiormed, and the limbs slender, yet strong. The hair is of a blue- 
ish-gray color in autumn ; during winter it continues of a dark 
gray^ and at the approach of spring it assumes a reddish or bright 
brown color, which is permanent throughout the summer. The 
croup is of a pale yellowish- white. There is no perceptible differ- 
ence of color between the male and female. The latter, however, 
does not participate in the "branching honors'^'* of the male. 
Almost all who have written upon the elk, have remarked the 
peculiar apparatus situated beneath the eye at the internal angle. 
It is a slit below the inner angle of each eye, lined with a naked 
membrane, which secretes an unctuous matter. Hunters assure 
us that the elk possesses the power, by strictly closing the nostrils, 
of forcing the air through these apertures in such a manner as to 
make a noise which may be heard at a considerable distance. 

Elk are still occasionally found in the remote and thinly settled 
parts of Pennsylvania, but the number is small ; it is only in the 
ivestern wilds that they are seen in considerable herds. They 



SQS ' HUNTTlXa ADVENTURES. 



are fond of the great forests, where a luxuriant vegetation affords 
them an abundant supply of buds and tender twigs ; or of the 
great plains, where the soHtude is seldom interrupted, and all- 
bounteous nature spreads an immense field of verdure for their 
support. 

The elk is shy and retiring ; having acute senses, he receives 
early warning of the approach of any human intruder. The 
moment the air is tainted by the odor of his enemy, his head is 
erected with spirit, his ears thrown rapidly in every direction to 
catch the sounds, and his large dark glistening eye expresses the 
most eager attention. Soon as the approaching hunter is fairly 
discovered, the elk bounds along for a few paces, as if trying his 
strength for flight, stops, turns half round, and scans his pursuer 
with a steady gaze, then, throwing back his lofty horns upon his 
neck, and projecting his taper nose forwards, he springs from the 
ground and advances with a velocity w^hich soon leaves the object 
of his dread far out of sight. 

But in the season when sexual passion reigns with its wonted 
influence over the animal creation, the elk, like various other 
creatures, assumes a more w^arlike and threatening character. 
He is neither so easily put to flight, nor can he be approached 
•with impunity, although he may have been wounded. His horns 
and hoofs are then employed with great effect, and the lives of 
men and dogs are endangered by coming within his reach. This 
season is during August and September, when the horns are in 
perfect order, and the males appear filled with rage, and wage the 
fiercest war with each other for the possession of the females. 
During this season, the males are said to make a loud and un- 
pleasant noise, which is compared to a sound between the neigh- 
ing of a stallion and the bellowing of a bull. Towards the end of 
May or the beginning of June, the female brings forth her young, 
commonly one, but very frequently two in number, which are 
generally male and female. 

The flesh of the elk is highly esteemed by the Indians anJ 
hunters as food, and the horns, while in their soft state, are also 
considered a delicacy : of their hides a great variety of articles of 



p?* 



HUNTING THE ELK. 



iress and usefulness are prepared. The solid portion or shaft of 
the perfect horn is wrought by the Indians into a bow, which is 
highly serviceable from its elasticity, as well as susceptible of 
beauty of po.ish and form. 

The warhke bearing of the elk, when hard pressed by the 
hunters, is illustrated in the following instance, from Long's Ex 
pedition to the Rocky Mountains. « A herd of twenty o"r thirty 
elk were seen at no great distance from the party, standing in the 
water, or lying upon the sand-beach. One of the finest' bucks 
was smgled out by a hunter, who fired upon him : whereupon 
the whole herd plunged into the thicket and disappeared. Rely- 
ing upon the skill of the hunter, and confident that his shot was 
fatal, several of the party dismounted and pursued the elk into the 
woods, where the wounded buck was soon overtaken. Finding 
his pursuers close upon him, the elk turned furiously upon the 
foremost, who only saved himself by spring ng into a thicket, 
which was impassable to the elk, whose enormous antlers, becom- 
mg so entangled in the vines as to be covered to their tips, he was 
held fast and bJnd-folded, and was despatched by repeated buJleti 



370 



HUNTTNa ADVENTURES. 




THE OPOSSUM. 




CHAPTER LX. 

HUNTING THE RACCOON, THE BLACK-TAILED DEER, AND TH« 

MUSK OX. 

HE RACCOON is well 
known in the greater 
part of the American 
Continent; and the rac- 
coon hunt forms the bur- 
den of many popular refrains in the 
United States. This animal possesses 
the mischievousness of the monkey, 
united with a blood-thirsty and vindic- 
tive spirit. He slaughters the Tenants 
of the poultry-yard with indiscriminate ferocity, and this, in many 
cases, leads to his own destruction, by exciting the vengeance of 
the farmer. 

Being peculiarly fond of sweet substances, the raccoon is occa- 
sionally very destructive to plantations of sugar cane,* and of 
Indian corn. While the ear of the Indian corn is still young, soft 
and tender, " in the milk," it is very sweet, and is then eagerly 
sought by the raccoons ; troops of them frequently enter fields of 
maize, and m one night commit extensive depredations, both by the 
• Sir Hans Sloane; " Natural Hi«te^* of Jamaica.*' 




HUNTING THE RACCOON. 371 



inantity of grain thev consume, and from the number of stalks 
they break down by their weight. 

The raccoon is, an excellent climber, and his strong sharp claw 
effectually secure him from being shaken off the branches of trees. 
In fact, so tenaciously does this animal hold to any surface upon 
which it can make an impression with its claws, that it requires a 
considerable exertion of a man's strength to drag him off; and as 
long as even a smgle foot remains attached, he continues to cling 
with great force. I have had frequent occasions to pull a raccoon 
from the top of a board fence, where there was no projection 
which he could seize by ; yet, such was the power and obstinacy 
with which the points of his claws were stuck into the board, as 
repeatedly to oblige me to desist for fear of tearing his skin, or 
otherwise doing him injury by the violence necessary to detach 
his hold. 

The conical form of the head, and the very pointed and flexible 
character of the muzzle or snout, are of great importance in aiding 
the raccoon *o examine every vacuity and crevice to which he 
gains access ; nor does he neglect any opportunity of using his 
natural advantages, but explores every nook and cranny, with the 
most persevering diligence and attention, greedily feeding on 
spiders, worms, or other insects which are discovered by the 
scrutiny. Where the opening is too small to give admittance to 
his nose, he employs his fore-paws, and shifts his position or turns 
his paws sidewise, in order to facilitate their introduction and 
effect his purpose. This disposition to feed on the grubs or larvae 
of insects must render this animal of considerable utihty in forest 
lands, in consequence of the great numbers of injurious and de- 
structive insects he consumes. He is also said to catch frogs with 
considerable address, by slily creeping up, and then springing on 
ihem, so as to grasp them with both paws. 

The general color of the raccoon is blackish-gray, which is 
paler on the under part of the body, and has, over considerable 
part of the neck, back and sides, some fawn, or hght rust-colored 
hair intermixed. The tail is covered with hair, and is marked 
with fi-e or six black rings around it, on a yellowish- whj*e ground 



a72 



HUi^Tl^'G Ai>\ EJ^'lUHES. 




THE BLACK TAILED DEER. 

Occasionally, the number of the raccoons is so much :r. creased 
as to render them very troublesome to the farmer, in the low and 
wooded parts of Maryland, bordering on the Chesapeake Bay. 
Raccoon-hunts by moonlight then become frequent. This is rare 
sport, and requires that those who engage in it should possess a 
coniider-able amount of skill, as the animal is noted for its cunning 
and activity. It also requires a strong constitution, in order not to 
suffer from the exposure in the low country, where the raccoon 
chiefly abounds. Yet to those of an active disposition, nothing 
can be more exciting and amusing than this hunt. Snares are 
sometimes set for the raccoon, but the animal displays his sagacity 
by avoiding them in general. Guns and dogs are the surest 
instruments of destruction, and these most " coon-hunters" avail 
themselves of. During the winter the animals are fattest, and 
then the country people have the most leisure to pursue them. 

The B.a-k-tailed Deer is sometimes called the Mule Deer, on 



HUNTING THE MUSK OX- 



S'^Ji 




THE MUSK OX. 



account of a resemblance of its ears to those of the mule. A • 
cording to Say's description, the horns are slightly jrrooved and 
tuberculated at base, having a small branch near thereto. The 
ears are very long, being half the length of the whole antler, and 
extending to its principal bifurcation. The eye is larger than that 
of the common deer, and the subocular sinus much larger. The 
hair is coarser, undulated and compressed, resembling that of the 
elk, and is of a light reddish brown color above. A line of black- 
ish-tipped hair is found upon the neck and back. The tail is of 
a jetty black at its extremity. 

The habits of this^ animal are similar to those of its kindred 
species, except that it does not run at full speed, but bounds along, 
raising every foot from the ground at the same time. It is found 
sometimes in the woodlands, but most frequently in prairies and 
open grounds. Its flesh is considered inferior to that of the com- 
mon deer. It is very fleet in its movements, and much more diffi- 
cult to come up with than the other varieties. 

Musk Ox is found in the greatest abundance in the rugged and 



574 HUNTING ADVENTURES, 



scarcely accessible districts lying nearest the North Pole. In 
destining the musk ox to inhabit the domains of frost and stc./m, 
nature has paid especial attention to its security against the effects 
of both ; first, by covering its body with a coat of long, dense hair, 
and then, by the shortness of his hmbs, avoiding the exposure 
that would result from a greater elevation of the trunk. 

The appearance of the musk ox is singular and imposing, 
awing to the shortness of the limbs, its broad, flattened, crooked 
horns, and the long, dense hair which envelopes the whole of its 
trunk, and hangs down nearly to the ground. When full grown, 
the musk ox is ten hands and a half high, according to Parry, and 
as large as the generality of the English black cattle ; but their 
legs, though large, are not so long ; nor is the tail longer than that 
of a bear, and like the tail of that animal it always bends down- 
wards and inwards, so that it is entirely hid by the long hair of 
the rump and hind-quarters. The hunch on the shoulder is not 
large, being little larger in proportion than that of a deer. Their 
hair is particularly long on the belly, sides and hind-quarters ; but 
me longest hair about them, particularly on the bulls, is under the 
tnroat, extendmg from the chin to the lower part of the chest, 
between the 'forelegs ; it there hangs down like a horse's mane 
mverted, and is full as long. 

Hearne slates that he has seen many herds of musk oxen in the 
high northern latitudes, during a single day's journey, and some 
of these herds contain from eighty to a hundred individuals, of 
which number a very small proportion were bulls, and it was quite 
uncommon to see more than two or three full grown males, even 
with the largest herds. The Indians had a notion that the males 
destroy each other in combating for the females, and this idea is 
fliomewhat supported by the warlike disposition manifested by 
these animals during their sexual seasons. The bulls are then so 
jealous of every thing that approaches their favorites, that they 
will not only attack men or quadrupeds, but will run bellowing 
after ravens or other large birds that venture loo near the cows. 

Musk oxen are found m the greatest numbers within the arctic 
sircle ; considerable herds are occasionally seen near the coast o» 



HUNTING THE MUSK OX. 373 



Hudson's Bay, throughout the distance from Knapp's Bay to 
Wager Water. They have in a few instances been seen as low 
lown as lat. 60° N. Capt. Parry's people killed some individuals 
on Melville Island, v/hich were remarkably well fed and fat. 
They are not commonly found at a great distance from the wooas, 
and when they feed on open grounds they prefer the most rocky 
and precipitous situations. Yet, notwithstanding their bulk and 
apparent unwieldiness, they climb among the rocks with all the 
ease and agility of the goat, to which they are quite equal in sure- 
ness of foot. Their favorite food is grass, but when this is not to 
be had, they readily feed upon moss, the twigs of willow, or tender 
shoots of pme.* 

From the shortness of the limbs, and the weight of the body, it 
might be inferred that the musk ox could not run with any speed ; 
but it is stated by Parry, that although they run in a hobbling sort 
of canter that makes them appear as if every now and then about 
to fall, yet the slowest of these musk oxen can far outstrip a man. 
When disturbed and hunted, they frequently tore up the ground 
with their horns, and turned round to look at their pursuers, but 
never attempted to make an attack. 

• It is singular and well worthy of observation, that the dung of the musk ox, 
though so large an animal, is not larger than, and, at the same, is so nearly of the 
shape and color of that of the Alpine Hare, that the difference is not easily dis- 
tinguished, except by the Indians, though the quantity generally indicates the 
animal to which it belonged. In the country adjacent to the Coppermine river, 
long ridges of this dung, together with that of deer and other animals, were seen 
by Heaine. Similar appearances were observed by Parry on severa oi *he North 
Georgian Islands. 




a?6 



HUNTING ADVENtURES. 




THE OPOSSUM. 



CHAPTER LXI. 

HUNTING THE BEAVER AND OPOSSUM. 

URING the greater part of th« 
time since the settlement of Ame- 
rica by Europeans the Beaver 
has been a favorite object with 
hunters. The general aspect of 
the Beaver is that of a very large 
musk-rat. But the greater size 
of the beaver, the thickness and 
breadth of its head, and its hori- 
zontally flattened, broad and scaly 
tail, render it impossible to mistake it for any other creature when 
closely examined. In its movements both on shore and in the 
water, it also closely resembles the musk-rat, having the same 
quick step, with great vigor and celerity, either on the surface, of 
in the depths of the water. 




HUNTING THE BEAVER. 371 



The beaver has long been the theme of the natural! :it's admira* 
tion, on account of its apparent sagacity and skill in building its 
habitation. They are not particular in the site they select foi 
their dwellings, but if in a lake or pond where a dam is not re- 
quired, they are careful to build where the water is sufficiently- 
deep. The materials used in constructing their dams, are the 
trunks and branches of small birch, mulberry, willow, poplar, &c. 
The strength of their teeth, and their perseverance may be esti- 
mated by the size of the trees they cut down. Dr. Best informs 
us that he has seen a mulberry tree, eight inches in diameter, 
which had been gnawed down by the beaver. These are cut in 
such a manner as to fall into the water, and then floated towards 
the site of the dam. The figure of the dam varies according as 
the stream has a gentle or a rapid current. Along with the trunks 
and branches of trees they intermingle mud and stones, to give 
greater security, and the dams remain long after the beavers have 
been exterminated. The dwellings of the beaver are formed of 
the same materials as the dam, and are adapted in size to the 
number of the inhabitants. These are seldom more than four old 
and six or eight young ones. The walls are very skillfully anj 
strongly constructed, and the whole fabric is a curious evidence 
of the sagacity of the animal. 

To capture beavers residing on a small river or creek, the 
Indians find it necessary to stake the stream across to prevent the 
animals from escaping, and then they try to ascertain where the 
vaults or washes in the banks are situated. This can only be 
done by those who are very experienced in such explorations 
and is thus performed : — The hunter is furnished w^ith an ice-chise 
lashed to a handle four or five feet in length ; with this ^'nstrument 
he strikes against the ice as he goes along the edge of the banks. 
The sound produced by the blow informs him when he is opposite 
one of these vaults. When one is discovered, a hole is cut through 
the ice of sufficient size to admit a full-grown beaver, and the search 
is continued until 9s many of the places of retreat are discovered as 
possible. During the time the most expert hunters are thus occu- 
pied, the others with the women are busy in breaking mlo the 



878 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



beaver-housw, which, as may be supposed from *vlat has been 
already stated, is a task of some difficulty. The beavers, alarmed 
at the invasion of their dwelling, take to the water and swim with 
surprising swiftness to their retreats in the banks, but their en- 
trance is betrayed to the hunters watching the holes in the ice, by 
the motion and discoloration of the water. The entrance is in- 
stantly closed with stakes of wood, and the beaver instead of find- 
ing shelter in his cave, is made prisoner and destroyed. The 
hunter then pulls the animal out, if within reach, by the introduc- 
tion of his hand and arm, or by a hook designed for this use, 
fastened to a long handle. Beaver-houses found in lakes or other 
standing waters offer an easier prey to the hunters, as there is no 
occasion for staking the water across. 

Among the Hudson's Bay Indians every hunter has the exclu' 
sive right to all the beavers caught in the washes discovered by 
him. Each individual on finding one, places some mark, as a pole 
or the branch of a tree stuck up, in order to know his own. 
Beavers caught in any house are also the property of the dis- 
coverer, who takes care to mark his claim, as in the case of the 
washes.* 

The number of beavers killed in the northern parts of this 
country is exceedingly great, even at the present time, after the 
fur trade has been carried on for so many years, and the most in- 
discriminate warfare waged uninterruptedly against the species. 
In the year 1820, sixty thousand beaver skins were sold by the 
Hudson's Bay Company, which we can by no means suppose to 
be the whole number killed during the preceding season. If to 
these be added the quantities collected by the traders from the 
Indians of the Missouri country, we may form some idea of the 
immense number of these animals which exist throuo:hout the vast 
regions of the north and west. 

It is a subject of regret that an animal so valuable and prolific 

• Lewis and Clark relate an instance which fell under their observation of on« 
beaver being caught in two traps belonging to different owners, it having one paw 
ID each. The proprietors of the traps were engaged in a contest for the beaver, 
when the above named distinguished travellers arrived and settled the disputt 
Mtween them bj an equitable arraugemaat. 



HUNTING THE BEAVER. 37^ 

ehould be hunted in a manner tending so evidently .0 the extermi- 
nation of the species, when a little care and management on the 
part of those interested, might prevent unnecessary destruction, 
and increase the sources of their revenue. The old beavers ;4re 
frequently killed within a short time of their Uttering season, and 
with every such death from three to six are destroyed. The 
young are often killed before they have attained half their growth 
and value, and of necessity long before they have contributed to 
the continuance of their species. 

In a few years, comparatively speaking, the beaver has been 
exterminated in all the Atlantic and in the western states, as far 
as the middle and upper waters of the Missouri ; while in the 
Hudson's Bay possessions they are becoming annually more 
scarce, and the race will eventually be extinguished throughout 
the whole continent. A few individuals may, for a time, elude the 
immediate violence of persecution, and like the degraded descen- 
dants of the aboriginals of our soil, be occasionally exhiL'ted as 
melancholy mementos of the tribes long previously whelmed in 
the fathomless gulf of avarice. 

The Indians inhabiting the countries watered by the tributaries 
of ^e Missouri and Mississippi, take the beavers principally by 
trapping, and are generally supplied with steel-traps by the 
traders, who do not sell, but lend or hire them, in order to keep 
the Indians dependent upon themselves^ and also to lay claim to the 
furs which they may procure. The name of the trader being 
stamped on the trap, it is equal to a certificate of enhstment, and 
indicates, when an Indian carries his furs to another trading estab- 
lishment, that the individual wishes to avoid the payment of his 
debts. The business of trapping requires great experience and 
caution, as the senses of the beaver are very keen, and enable him 
to detect the recent presence of the hunter by the slightest traces. 
It is necessary that the hands should be washed clean before the 
trap is handled and baited, and that every precaution should be 
employed to elude the vigilance of the animal. 

The bait which is used to entice the beavers is prepared from 
the substance called castor (castoreumj) obtained from the glan* 



S80 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



duious pouches of the male* animal, which contain sonietimei 
from two to three ounces. This substance is called by the hunters 
6arA:stone, and is squeezed gently into an open mouthed phial. 

The contents of five or six of these castor bags are mixed 
with a nutmeg, twelve or fifteen cloves, and thirty grains of cinna- 
mon, in fine powder, and then the whole is stirred up with as 
much whiskey as will give it the consistency of mustard prepared 
for the table. This mixture must be kept closely corked up, and 
m four or five days the odor becomes more powerful, with care it 
may be preserved for months without injury. Various other 
strong aromatics are sometimes used to increase the pungency of 
the odor. Some of this preparation smeared upon the bits of wood 
with which the traps are baited, will entice the beaver from a 
great distance. 

The castor, whose odor is similar to tanner's ooze, gets the 
name of 6a?'A;-stone from its resemblance to fiiely powdered bark. 
The sacks containing it are about two inches in length. Behind 
these, and between the skin and root of the tnil, are found two 
other oval cysts, lying together, which contam a pure strong oi. 
of a rancid smell. 

During the winter season the beaver becomes very fat, and its 
flesh is esteemed by the hunters to be excellent food. But those 
occasionally caught in the summer are very thin, and unfit for the 
table. They lead so wandering a fife at this season, and are so 
much exhausted by the collection of materials for building, or the 
winter's stock of provision, as well as by suckling their young, as 
to be generally at that time in a very poor condition. Their fur 
during the summer is of little value, and it is only in winter that 
it is to be obtained in that state which renders it so desirable to the 
fur traders 

The Opossum, is one of the most common animals within our bor- 
ders, and is annually killed or captured in large numbers. Yet it is 
still considered as a sort of anomaly among animals, and the pecu- 
liarities of its sexual intercourse, gestation and parturition, are to 
this day veiled in obscurity. The opossum has a number of 

* Jnxta preputium utroque latere existuut. 



HUNTING THE OPOSSUM. 381 



peculiarities which deserve to be mentioned. It has a very larga 
number of teeth, its hind feet are actually rendered hands by short, 
fleshy, and opposable thumbs, enabling- the animal to grasp objects 
firmly with these feet; it has a prehensile tail by curving which 
at the extremity, the animal can depend from the limb of a tree, 
or other projection, and hanging in security, gather fruit, or seize 
any prey within his reach. The opossum has a very acute sense 
of touch, which contributes to its safety during the nocturnal ramble 
in which he indulges. The general color of the animal js a 
whitish gray. On the face the wool is short and of a smoky 
white color ; that on the belly is of the same character. The tail 
is covered with small hexagonal scales, interspersed with short, 
coarse hairs. 

The opossum is a nocturnal animal, depending more upon its 
cunning than its strength for its safety. Its motions are slow, and 
clumsy in appearance. Birds, small quadrupeds, eggs, insects, 
and the denizens of the poultry-yard form its principal food. Its 
flesh is said to resemble roast pig in flavor. 

The hunting of the opossum is a favorite sport with the country 
people, who frequently go out with their dogs at night, after the 
autumnal frosts have begun and the persimmon fruit is in its most 
delicious state. The opossum as soon as he discovers the ap- 
proach of his enemies, lies perfectly close to the branch, or places 
himself snugly in the angle where two hmbs separate from each 
other. The dogs, however, soon announce the fact of his presence 
by their baying, and the hunter ascending the tree discovers the 
branch upon which the animal is seated, and begins to shake it 
with great violence to alarm and cause him to relax his hold. 
This is soon effected, and the opossum attempting to escape to 
anothsr limb is pursued immediately, and the shaking is renewed 
with greater violence, until at length the terrified quadruped 
Riiows himself to drop to the ground, where hunters or dogs ore 
picpared to despatch him. 

Should the hunter, as frequently happens, be unaccompanied 
by dogs when the opossum falls to the ground, it does not im- 
mediately make its escape, but steals slowly and quietly to a little 



382 HUNTING ADVENTUKES, 



distance^ and then gathering itself into as small a compass ts pos« 
S^ble, remains as still as if dead. Should there be any quantity 
of grass or underwood near the tree, this apparently simple artifice 
is frequently sufficient to secure the animal's escape, as it is diffi- 
cult by moonlight or in the shadow of the tree to distinguish it, 
and if the hunter has not carefully observed the spot where it 
fell, his labor is often in vain. This circumstance, however, is 
generally attended to, and the opossum derives but little benefit 
from his instinctive artifice. 

After remaining in this apparently lifeless condition for a con- 
siderable time, or so long as any noise indicative of danger can be 
heard, the opossum slowly unfolds himself, and creeping as closely 
as possible upon the ground would fain sneak ofl^unpercei ved. Upon 
a shout or outcry in any tone from his persecutor, he immediately 
renews his death-like attitude and stillness. If then approached, 
moved or handled, he is still seemingly dead, and might deceive any 
one not accustomed to his actions. This feigning is repeated aa 
frequently as opportunity is allowed him of attempting to escape, 
and is known so well to the country folks as to have long since 
passed into a proverb. '' He is playing opossum** is applied, with 
great readiness, by them to any one who is thought to act deceit- 
fully, or wishes to appear what he is not. 

As the female produces from twelve to sixteen cubs at a time, 
there is but little danger of the animal becoming scarce at an early 
day. Its usual haunts are thick forests, and the hollows of de« 
eay^Ct trees serve it for a refuge during the day. 




HUNTING TISE FISHER. 



383 




THE FISHBS. 

CHAPTER LXIL 

HUNTING THE FISHER. 

I^pHE Fisher, or Black Cat of our hunters is a large and powe- 
11 ful animal, standing nearly a foot from the ground. It was 
formerly very abundant in the Middle States, but is now confined 
o the thinly settled Northern districts. It is u nocturnal species, 
ind lives chiefly on the smaller quadrupeds, but also devours 
rrogfi, fish and serpents. It climbs with great ease, and takes up 
its abode in the trunk of a tree. The form of the body is typical. 
Head broad ; nose acute ; ears about three inches from the nose, 
broaa, rounded and distant ; the fore feet are shorter than the hind 
ones, and the soles of both are covered with short hair ; the tail i^ 
long and bushy, and the fur very fine and lustrous ; the color is 
grayish over the head and anterior parts of the body ; dark browB 
©»• black behind. 



834 HUNTTNG ADVENTURES. 



The name of Fisher, which has been censured as not applicable 
to this animal, is, however, that by which it is best known, and 
which it has received from its ciiaracteristie habits. Richardson 
states that it feeds on the hoards of frozen fish stored up by the 
residents. We are informed by a person who resided many years 
near Lake Oneida, where the Fisher was then common, that the 
name was derived from its singular fondness for the fish used to 
bait traps. The hunters were in the practice of soaking their fis 
over night, and it was frequently carried off by the Fisher, whose 
well known tracks were seen in the vicinity, ^n Hamilton county 
it is still numerous and troublesome. The hunters there have 
assured me that they have known a fisher to destroy twelve out 
of thirteen traps in a line of not more than fourteen miles in length. 
It brings forth two young annually. The hunting season for the 
fisher in the northern part of the State, commences about the tenth 
of October, and lasts to the middle of May, when the futs are not 
so valuable. The ordinary price is $1 50 per skin ; but it is not 
80 fine, nor so highly valued as that of the sable. Its geographical 
range is included between the fortieth and seventieth parallels of 
latitudes, extending across the continent. 

The American Gray Rabbit, so common in the United States, 
has been, until recently, confounded with others. The following 
description by Schreber, which seems to have been overlooked by 
modern writers, applies very well to our rabbit : — 

^« Cheeks full of thick hair; ears thin externally, with few hairs, 
naked within, and when bent forward, do not reach the nose ; 
when bent backwards, they reach the shoulder blades ; eyes 
large and black, with 4-5 bristles above them ; whiskers mostly 
b*ack ; some are white ; the longest appears to reach beyond the 
head. Color in summer ; ears brownish, with a very narrow 
black border on the outer margin, of the same breadth to the tips, 
or becomes effaced ; brown cheeks, back and sides ; fore and hind 
legs hght brown externally, mixed with black ; all round the 
breech, white ; feet full of short hair of a light brown, unmixed with 
black, changing towards the inside to a grey white ; upper pan 
of the tail like that of the back, (perhaps mixed with black, ai 



HUNTING IIIE AMERICAN GRAY RABBIT. 385 




GRAY RABBIT. 

Pennant describes it black ;) beneath white ; throat white ; lower 
part of the neck bright brown, mixed with white ; chest and belly, 
inside of fore and hind legs, white. Color in winter, when it vioea 
change, white." 

The Gray Rabbit changes but little with the season, excepi 
that the fur is longer and finer, and has a tendency to white. It 
is a timid, inoffensive creature ; and were it not for its excessive 
vigilance and its astonishing powers of reproduction, would soon 
be extirpated. Besides man, it has many other enemies. It is 
the favorite food of the two lynxes, and is destroyed by the weasel, 
skunk, hawks, ^ wis and serpents. 

Its food consists of bark, buds, grass, wild berries, etc. ; and in 
cultivated districts, it is said to enter gardens and destroy vege- 
25 



386 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 







y:!i)y^^^^.i<^'y 



.-^^ 



THE JUMPING MOUSE. 



table? Unlike ita congeners, it does not confine itself to the 
wood, but is frequently found in open fields, or where there is a 
slight copse or under-brush. It does not burrow like its closely 
allied species the European Rabbit, but makes its form, which is 
a shght depression in the ground, sticitered by some low shrub 
Ii frequently resorts to a stone wall, or a heap of stones, or a hol- 
low tree, and sometimes to the burrow of some othei animal. Its 
habits are nocturnal ; and they may often be seen ii cne morning, 
or early part of the afternoon although in retired . .tuation*" they 
have been seen at all times of the day. Its flesL, though black 
and dry, is well flavored, although in this respect it varies 
with the quality of its previous food. It breeds in New 
York State, three times in the season, producing from fnwr to 
six at a birth. It is the smallest of the species found ic. *-hi« 



HUNTING THE JUMPING MOUSE. 



887 



State, and so much resembles m its form the European Rabbit, 
that the same popular «ame has been applied to it, although differ 
mg in color and some of its habits. This, however, is of no con 
sequence, for the name of American or Gray Rabbit is sufficiently 
distinctive. It has not a wide geographical range. It is found 
from New Hampshire to Florida, but its western limits are not yd 
established. 

The Jumping Mouse is found from Hudson's Bay to Pennsyl 
Tania, and through the Western States to the mouth of the Columbia 
river. From the distribution of its colors, and its slender propor- 
tions, it has a delicate and beautiful appearance. It is very agile, 
^umping in the manner of the deer-mouse, and is, in common with 
that animal, called the jumping mouse. It seems to prefer forests 
and wooded places, but is often found in meadows or cultivated 
grounds, where grain and seeds of grasses abound. It is said to 
build its nest in trees. According to Richardson, in thfe northern 
regions, it becomes an inmate of the fur establishments, and makes 
hoards of grain in various places. It is usually about six inches 
long; the color is brownish alone, the feet and beneath being 
white. The tail is hairy, being as long as the body. They are 
said to be quite as good eating as the most of the sqv 'Tels, ano 
we frequently trapped by the hunters 




B8S 



HUNTING ADVENTURES, 




CHAPTER LXIIL 



HUNTING THE AMERICAN DEER. 

THE American Deer is found in almost every part of the 
Northern and Western States, where there is sufficient fores* 
to afford them food and cover. It even ranges South to the Gulf 
of Mexico, but very seldom. It is very abundant in some parts 
of New York and Pennsylvania, in spite of the destructive efforts 
of man and the wolves. The deer has one, and occasionally -vo 
fawns at a birth, which generally occurs in May or June. In the 
rutting season the males are restless and bold, and are observed to 
have the neck considerably swelled. When alarmed, they stamp 
quickly and often upon the ground, and emit a sound like a shriil 
whistle, which may be heard at a great distance. When mortally 
urounded, they often give a faint bleat, Hke that of a calf. 
When brought to bay, it throws off its habitual timidity, its eyes 
glare fiercely around, every hair on its body bristles up, and 
appears as if directed forward, and it dashes boldly upon its { e. 



HUNTING THE AMERICAN DEER. 38$ 

fts horns are cast usually in the winter, but the period appears to 
depend upon the latitude and the severity of the season. In New 
York, the deer are protected by Jaw during the rutting season. 

Description.— Ueai long and slender; muzzle pointed; eyes 
large and lustrous, ths lachrymal pits consisting of a slight fold of 
the skin ; tail moderate, depressed ; legs slender ; a glandular pouch 
concealed by a thick tuft of rigid hairs inside of the hind le^s, 
odoriferous, and connected with the sexual appetite. The horns 
of the adult male vary so much in shape, that scarcely any two 
are alike; appearing to depend upon age, season, and abundance 
or scarcity of food. In the first season they are simple, cylindrical 
and pointed, and in this state they are known as spike bucks ; in 
the following season, they have a short, straight antler; and the 
number increases until the fourth season, when the following is 
the most usual condition of the horns : the main stem rises upward 
and laterally, and then makes a broad curve forward, with the 
tips turned inward and downward; on the inner and slightly ante 
rior surface of the main stem, arises a short brow antler, directed 
forward and upward ; the stem, thus far, is roughened by nodosi- 
ties and furrows ; above this, a branch is thrown off from the inte- 
rior or anterior, curving inwards and forwards, and occasionally 
another branch before reaching the tip. These first and second 
oranches are occasionally themselves bifurcated ; and in one before 
me now, the horns exhibit six t,ps on one side, including those of 
the brow antlers, and on the other nine, the first branch being 
bifid, the second trifid, a third simple, and the extreme tip itself 
bifid. When the horn is palmated, the flattening occurs at the 
ongm of the first branch. In many specimens, there is only the 
brow antler, and a single branch above. Fur, composed of flattened 
angular hairs, lying smooth on the body. 

Co/or.— Bluish-gray in the autumn and winter, dusky reddisn 
or fulvous in the spring, becoming bluish in the summer ; the 
fawns are irregularly spotted with white ; the gray or reddish 
color m the aduh extends over the whole head, back, sides, and 
upper part of the tail; a few white hairs often observed on the 
rump at the origin of the tail ; beneath the chin, throat, bellj; 



B90 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 




and iaside of legs and under side of tail, always white ; ears riiar» 
pined with dark brown, and often with white hairs within, and a 
white circle round the eyes ; hoofs jet black. 

The American Deer is considered by the hunters the king of game 
beasts, and consequently, he is pursued with unrelenting cruelty. 
Before the Europeans visited America, the deer roamed the forests 
from the brink of the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains. He was pur* 
sued by the Indians for the sake of his skin and flesh, but still the 
number of his race suffered but little diminution. But when the 
Europeans had obtained a foothold upon the continent, his de- 
struction was greatly accelerated, and as cities and towns sprang 
up, he was driven to the forests of the interior. Still he was pur- 
sued with as much ardor as the Red Deer of Europe was in the 
middle ages, European and Indian joining in the chase. The 



HUNTING THE RED DEER. 



391 



number of the Deer decreased in proportion to the advance of 
civilization, and now but few are found in the Atlantic slates. 

The Indian method of deer hunting differs in many respects 
from that originally pursued by the Europeans, and is now gen- 
erally adopted among the western hunters. A number of hunters 
divide themselves into several parties and proceed by different 
paths through the same forest. When a deer trail has been dis- 
covered, a signal is given, either by hallooing or firing a gun, 
and the hunters upon the other tracks station themselves in such 
a position as to cut off the retreat of the animal, and shoot him if 
he attempt to pass them. The hunters, who have discovered 
the deer, if they cannot get a shot at him, or them, halloo and drive 
the deer before them. In this manner, they are brought within 
the range of the concealed hunters upon one of the other tracks, 
and shot. Besides this method, by which great numbers are de- 
Btroyed, the Indians use disguises to enable them to approach the 
deer unsuspected, and frequently a single hunter commits coik 
siderabJe havoc among them. 




CHAPTER XLIV. 

MR. CUMMING*S ENCOUNTER WITH FOIL LI0S8. 

Our old friend, Mr. Gumming, thus describes an encounter which 
he had with four lions. Swint had just milked the cows, and wai 
driving them from the wooded peninsula in which we lay, athwart 
the open ground, to graze with my other cattle in the forest beyond, 
he beheld four majestic lions walking slowly across the vley, a few 
hundred yards below my camp, and disappear over the river's bank, 
at a favorite drinking-place. These mighty monarchs of the waste 
had been holding a prolonged repast over the carcases of some zebras 
killed by Present, and had now come down the river to slake their 
thirst. This being reported, I instantly saddled up two horses, and 
directing my boys to lead after me as quickly as possible my small 
remaining pack of sore-footed dogs, I rode forth, accompanied by 
Cavey carrying a spare gun, to give battle to the four grim lions. 
As I rode out of the peninsula, they showed themselves on the bank 
of the river, and, guessing that their first move would be a disgraceful 
retreat, I determined to ride so as to make them think that I had 
not observed them, until I should be able to cut off their retreat frcm 
the river, across the open vley, to the endless forest beyond. 

That point being gained, I knew that they, still doubtful of my 
having observed them, would hold their ground on the river's bank, 
until my dogs came up, when I could more advantageously make the 
attack. I cantered along, as if I meant to pass the lions at a dis- 
tance of a quarter of a mile, until I was opposite to them, when I 
altered my course, and inclined a little nearer. The lions then 
(392) 



HUNTING LIONS. 395 



•howed symptoms of uneasiness ; they rose to their feet, and, o> er- 
hauling us for half a minute, disappeared over the bank. They re^ 
appeared, however, directly, a little farther down j and finding that 
their present position was bare, they walked majestically along the 
top of the bank to a spot a few hundred yards lower, where the bank 
was well woo isd. Here they seemed half inclined to await my attack ; 
two stretched out their massive arms, and lay down in the grass, and 
the other two sat up like dogs upon their haunches. Deeming it 
probable that when my dogs came up and I approached they would 
Btill retreat and make a bolt across the open vley, I directed Carey 
to canter forward and take up the ground in the centre of the vley 
about four hundred yards in advance ; whereby the lions would be 
compelled either to give us battle or to swim the river, which, although 
narrow, I knew they would be very reluctant to do. I now sat in 
my saddle, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the dogs ; and whilst 
thus momentarily disengaged, I was much struck with the majestic 
and truly appalling appearance which these four noble lions exhibited. 
They were all full-grown immense males ; and I felt, I must confess, 
a little nervous, and very uncertain as to what might be the issue of 
the attack. 

When the dogs came up I rode right in towards the lions. They 
sprang to their feet, and trotted slowly along the bank of the river, 
once or twice halting and facing about for half a minute. Immedi- 
ately below them there was a small determined bend in the stream, 
forming a sort of peninsula. Into this bend they disappeared, and 
the next moment I was upon them with my dogs. They had taken 
shelter in a dense angle of the peninsula, well sheltered by high treei 
and reeds. Into this retreat the dogs at once boldly followed them, 
making a loud barking, which was instantly followed by the terrible 
Toices of the lions, which turned about and charged to the end of 
the cover. Next moment, however, I heard them plunge into the 
river, when I sprang from my horse, and running to the top of the 
bank, I saw three of them ascending the opposite bank, the dogs fol- 
lowing. One of them bounded away across the open plain at top 
speed, but the other two, finding themselves followed by the dogs, 
immediately turned tc tdy. It was now my turn, so, taking them 



896 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



coolly right and left with my little rifle, I made the most gloriotn 
double shot that a sportsman's heart could desire, disabling them 
both in the shoulder before they were even aware of my position. 
Then snatching my other gun from Carey, who that moment had 
ridden up to my assistance, I finished the first lion. with a shot about 
the heart, and brought the second to a standstill by disabling him is 
his hind quarters. He quickly crept into a dense, wide, dark green 
bush, in which for a long time it was impossible to obtain a glimpse 
of him. At length, a clod of earth falling near his hiding-place, he 
made a move which disclosed to me his position, when I finished him 
with three more shots, all along the middle of his back. Carey swam 
across the river to flog off" the dogs ; and when these came through 
to me, I beat up the peninsula in quest of the fourth lion, which had, 
however, made off". We then crossed the river a little higher up, 
and we proceeded to inspect the noble prizes I had won. Both lions 
were well up in their years j I kept the skin and skull of the finest 
specimen, and only the nails and tail of the other, one of whose ca- 
nine teeth was worn down to the socket with caries, which seemed to 
have aff'ected his general condition. On the 9th it rained throughout 
the day, converting the rich soil on which we were encamped into 
one mass of soft sticky clay. In the forenoon, fearing the rain would 
render the vley (through which we must pass to gain the firmer 
ground) impassable, I ordered my men to prepare to march, and leave 
the tent with its contents standing, the point which I wished to gain 
being distant only about five hundred yards. When the oxen were 
mspanned, however, and we attempted to move, we found my tackle, 
which was old, so rotten from the effects of the rain, that something 
gave way at every strain. Owing to this and the softness of the vley, 
we labored on till sundown, and only succeeded in bringing one wagoH 
to its destination, the other two remaining fast in the mud in the 
middle of the vley. Next morning, luckily, the weather cleared up, 
when my men brought over the tent, and in the afternoon the othei 
two wagons. 

We followed up the banks of the river for several days with the 
usual allowance of sport. On the 16th we came suddenly upon an 
Hnmense old bull muchocho rolling in mud. He sprang to his feet 



HUNTING LIONS. 397 

jmmediatelj he saw me, and, charging up the bank, so frightened oui 
horses, that before I could get my rifle from my after-rider he waa 
past us I then gave him chase; and after a hard gallop of about 
a mile I sprang from my horse and gave him a good shot behind the 
Bhoulder. At this moment a cow rhinocerous of the same species, 
with her calf, charged out of some wait-a-bit thorn-cover, and stood 
right m my path. Observing that she carried an unusually long horn 
1 turned my attention from the bull to her; and after a very long 
and severe chase I dropped her at the sixth shot. I carried one of 
my rifles, which gave me much trouble, that not being the tool required 
for this sort of work, where quick loading is indispensable. 

After breakfast I sent men to cut off the head of this rhinoceros, 
and proceeded with Ruyter to take up the spoor of the bull wounded 
m the morning. We found that he was very severely hit, and, having 
followed the spoor for about a mile through very dense thorn-cover, 
he suddenly rustled out of the bushes close ahead of us, accompanied 
by a whole host of rhinoceros birds. I mounted my horse and gave 
him chase, and in a few minutes he had received four severe shots. 
I managed to turn his course towards camp, when I ceased firing, as 
^e seemed to be nearly done up, and Ruyter and I rode slowly behind 
him, occasionally shouting to guide his course. Presently, however, 
Chukuroo ceased taking any notice of us, and held leisurely on for 
the river, into a shallow part of which he walked, and after panting 
there and turning about for a quarter of an hour he fell over and 
expired. This was a remarkably fine old bull, and from his dentition 
It was not improbable that a hundred summers had seen him roaming 
as a peaceful denizen of the forests and open glades along the fair banks 
of the secluded Mariqua. 

During our march on the 19th we had to cross a range of very 
rocky hills, covered with large loose stones; and all hands were re- 
quired to be actively employed for about an hour in clearing them 
out of the way to permit the wagons to pass. The work went on fast 
and furious, and the quantity of stones cleared was immense. W« 
had now reached the spot where we were obliged to bid adieu to the 
Mariqua, and hold a westerly course across t>»- country for Sichely 



898 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



At sundown we halted under a lofty mountain, tlie highest in the 
district, called " Lynche a Cheny/' or the Monkey's Mountain. 

Next day at an early hour I rode out with Ruyter to hunt ; my 
camp being entirely without flesh, and we having been rationed on 
very tough old rhinoceros for several days past. It was a cloudy 
morning, and soon after starting it came on to rain heavily. I, how- 
ever, held on, skirting a fine well-wooded range of mountains, and 
after riding several miles I shot a zebra. Having covered the carcass 
well over with branches to protect it from the vultures, I returned to 
camp, and, inspanning my wagons, took it up on the march. We 
continued trekking on until sundown, when we started an immense 
herd of buffaloes, into which I stalked and shot a huge old bull. 

Our march this evening was through the most beautiful country I 
nad ever seen in Africa. We skirted along an endless range of well- 
wooded stony mountains lying on our left, whilst to our right the 
country at first sloped gently off, and then stretched away into a level 
green forest (occasionally interspersed with open glades,) boundless 
as the ocean. This green forest was, however, relieved in one direction 
j)y a chain of excessively bold, detached, well-wooded, rocky, pyra- 
midal mountains, which stood forth in grand relief. In advance the 
picture was bounded by forest and mountain ; one bold acclivity, in 
Bhape a dome, standing prominent among its fellows. It was a lovely 
evening : the sky, overcast and gloomy, threw an interesting, wild, 
mysterious coloring over the landscape. I gazed forth upon the ro- 
mantic scene before me with intense delight, and felt melancholy and 
sorrowful at passing so fleetingly through it, and I could not help 
ehouting out as I marched along, " Where is the coward who would 
not dare to die for such a land V* 

In the morning we held for a fountain some miles ahead in a gorge 
in the mountains. As we approached the fountain, and were passing 
close in under a steep rocky hill side, well wooded to its summit, I 
unexpectedly beheld a lion stealing up the rocky face, and halting 
behind a tree, he stood overhauling us for some minutes. I re- 
solved to give him battle, and seizing my rifle marched against him, 
followed by Carey, carrying a spare gun, and by three men leading 
my dogs, now reduced to eight. When we got close in to the base 



HUNTING LIONS. 401 



of the mountain, we found ourselves enveloped in dense a jungle, 
which extended half way to its summit, and entirely obscured from 
our eyes objects which were quite apparent from the wagons. 1 
slipped my dogs, however, which, after snuffing about, took righ 
up the steep face on the spoor of the lions, for there was a troop of 
them — a lion and four lionesses. 

The people at the wagons saw the chase in perfection. Whoc 
the lions observed the dogs coming on, they took right up, and three 
of them crossed over the sky ridge. The dogs, however, turned one 
old rattling lioness, which came rumbling down through the cover, 
close past me. I ran to meet her, and she came to bay in an open spot 
near the base of the mountain, whither I quickly followed; and 
coming up within thirty yards, bowled her over with my first shot, 
which broke her back. My second entered her shoulder ; and fear- 
ing that she might hurt any of the dogs, as she still evinced signs 
of life, I finished her with a third in the breast. The bellies (f all 
the four lions were much distended by some game they had been 
gorging, no doubt a buffalo, as a large herd started out of the j angle 
immediately under the spot wh<»jre the noble be&sts were first 
disturbed 

S6 



CHAPTER LXV. 

ROCTT3RNAL ADVENTURE WITH SIX LIONS 

>luT content with encountering four lions at once, Mr. (Jnmnuag, 
on a certain occasion, gave battle to six. He thus describes thia 
adventure. On the afternoon of the 4th, I deepened my hole and 
watched the water. As the sun went down two graceful springboks 
and a herd of pallah came and drank, when I shot the best pallah in 
the troop. At night I watched the water with Kleinboy : very soon 
a cow black rhinoceros came and drank, and got off for the present 
with two balls in her. A little afterwards two black rhinoceroses and 
two white ones came to the water-side. We both fired together at the 
finest of the two black rhinoceroses ; she ran three hundred yards, 
and fell dead. Soon after this the other black rhinoceros came up 
again and stood at the water-side; I gave her one ball after the 
shoulder ; she ran a hundred yards and fell dead. In half an hour 
a third old borele appeared, and, having inspected the two dead ones, 
he came up to the water-side. We fired together; he ran two hun- 
dred yards and fell dead. I felt satisfied with our success, and gave 
it up for the night. 

By the following evening the natives had cleared away the greater 
part of the rhinoceroses which lay right in the way of the game ap- 
proaching the water; I, however, enforced their leaving the third 
rhinoceros, which had fallen on the bare rising ground, almost oppo- 
eite my hiding-place, in the hope of attracting a lion, as 1 intended 
to watch the water at night. Soon after the twilight had died 
away, I went down to my hole with Kleinboy and two natives, who 
C402J 



HUNTING LIONS. 405 



lay concealed in another hole, with Wolf and Boxer ready to slip, 
in the event of wounding a lion. 

On reaching the water I looked towards the carcass of the rhino- 
ceros, and, to my astonishment, I beheld the ground alive with 
large creatures, as though a troop of zebras were approaching the 
fountain to drink. Kleinboy remarked to me that a troop of zebras 
were standing on the height. I answered, " Yes ;" but I knew very 
well that zebras would not be capering around the carcass of a rhj 
noceros. I quickly arranged my blankets, pillow, and guns in t> j 
hole, and then lay down to feast my eyes on the interesting sight 
before me. It was bright moonlight, as clear as I need wish, and 
within one night of being full moon. There were six lar^e lions, 
about twelve or fifteen hyaenas, and from twenty to thirty ja^jkals, 
feasting on and around the carcasses of the three rhinoceroses. Thfl 
lions feasted peacefully, but the hyaenas and jackals fought over 
every mouthful, and chased one another round and round the car- 
casses, growling, laughing, screeching, chattering, and howling with- 
out intermission The hyaenas did not seem afraid of the lions, 
although they always gave way before them ; for I observed that they 
followed them in the most disrespectful manner, and stood laughing, 
one or two on either side, when any lions came after their comrades 
to examine pieces of skin or bones which they were dragging away. 
I had lain watching this banquet for about three hours, in the strong 
hope that, when the lions had feasted, they would come and drink. 
Two black and two white rhinoceroses had made their appearence, 
but, scared by the smell of the blood, they had made off. 

At length the lions sut^med satisfied. They all walked about with 
their heads up, and seemed to he thinking about the water ; and in 
two minutes one of them turner his face towards me, and came on ; 
he was immediately followed by a second lion, and in half a minuto 
by the remaining four. It was a decided and general move, they 
were all coming to drink right bang in my face, within fifteen yards 
of me 

I charged the unfortunate, pale, and panting Kleinboy to convert 
himself into a stone, and knowing, from old spoor, exactly where 
iLey would drink, I cocked my left barrel, and placed myself and 



406 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



gun in position. The six lions came steadily on along the stony 
ridge, until within sixty yards of me, when they halted for a minuta 
to reconnoitre. One of them stretched out his massive arms on the 
rock and lay down ; the others then came on, and he rose and brought 
up the rear. They walked, as i had anticipated, to the old drink- 
ing-place, and three of them had put down their heads and were 
lapping the water loudly, when Kleinboy thought it necessary to 
shove up his ugly head. I turned my head slowly to rebuke him^ 
and again turning to the lions I found myself discovered. 

An old lioness, who seemed to take the lead, had detected me, 
and with her head high, and her eyes fixed full upon me, she was 
coming slowly round the corner of the little vley to cultivate further 
my acquaintance. This unfortunate proceeding put a stop at once 
to all further contemplation. I thought, in my haste, that it was 
perhaps most prudent to shoot this lioness, especially as none of the 
others had noticed me. I accordingly moved my arm and covered 
her ; she saw me move and halted, exposing a full broadside. I 
fired ; the ball entered one shoulder and passed out behind the other. 
She then bounded forward with repeated growls, and was followed 
by her five comrades all enveloped in a cloud of dust; nor did they 
stop until they had reached the cover behind me, except one old gen 
tleman, who halted and looked back for a few seconds, when I fired, 
but the ball went high. I listened anxiously for some sound to de- 
note the approaching end of the lioness; nor listened in vain. I 
heard her growling and stationary, as if dying. In one minute her 
comrades crossed the vley a little below me, and made towards the 
rhinoceros. I then slipped Wolf and Boxer on her scent, and fol- 
lowing them into the cover, I found her lying dead within tw mty 
yards of where the old lion had lain two nights before. This was a 
fine old lioness, with perfect teeth, and was certainly a noble prize ; 
but I felt dissatisfied at not having rather shot a lion, which 1 had 
most certainly done if my Hottentot had not unfortunately destioyed 
Ht eontemplatioa 



CHAPTER LXVL 

A EAKV CHASE OF AN ELEPHANT. 

The i' )llo\*'ing narrative of an encounter with an elephant, is ana 
p/ the uiost interesting, of Mr. Cumming's adventures in South 
A frica. It occurs at the beginning of his second volume, as follows : 
I remained at Sabie, hunting elephant and rhinoceros with success, 
till the morning of the 22nd of August, when I inspanned, and 
marched for Mangmaluky, which we reached at sundown, when I 
drew up my wagons in an open grassy glade on a rather elevated 
cwsition, commanding a fine view of the bold outline of the surround 
l^g mountains. Oh the march I shot a white rhinoceros in the act 
of charging down a rocky face, with all the dogs in full pursuit of 
him. The ball disabled him in the shoulder, when, pitching upon 
his head, he described the most tremendous somersault, coming 
down among the stones and bushes with the overwhelming violence 
of an avalanche. 

On the 27th I cast loose my horses at earliest dawn of day, and 
then lay half asleep for two hours, when I arose to consume coffee 
and rhinoceros. Having breakfasted, I started with a party of na- 
tives to search for elephants in a southerly direction. We held 
*long the gravelly bed of a periodical river, in which were abund- 
ince of holes excavated by the elephants in quest of water. Here 
the spoor of the rhinoceros was extremely plentiful, and in every 
hole where they had drunk the print of the horn was visible. We 
soon found the spoor of an old bull elephant, which led us inio a 
ietae forest, where the ground was particularly unfavorable fol 

(409) 



410 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



spooring ; we, however, threaded it out for a considerable distance, 
when it joined the spoor of other bulls. The natives now requested 
me to halt, while men went off in different directions to reconnoitre. 

In the mean time a tremenduous conflagration was roaring and 
crackling close to windward of us. It was caused by the Bakalahari 
burning the old dry grass to enable the young to spring up with 
greater facility, whereby they retained the game within their domi- 
nions. The fire stretched away for many miles on either side of ua 
darkening the forest far to leeward with a dense and impenetrable 
canopy of smoke. Here we remained for about half an hour, when 
one of the men returned, reporting that he had discovered elephants. 
This I could scarcely credit, for I fancied that the extensive fire 
which raged so fearfully must have driven,, not only elephants, but 
every living creature out of the district. The native, however, pointed 
to his eye, repeating the word '^ Klow," and signed to me to follow 
him. My guide led me about a mile through dense forest, when w^ 
reached a little well wooded hill, to whose summit we ascended, whenc % 
a view might have been obtained of the surrounding country, had 
not volumes of smoke obscured the scenery far and wide, as though 
issuing from the funnels of a thousand steamboats. Here, to my as- 
tonishment, my guide halted, and pointed to the thicket close beneath 
me, when I instantly perceived the collossal backs of a herd of bull 
elephants. There they stood quietly browsing on the lee side of the 
hill, while the fire in its might was raging to windward within two 
hundred yards of them. 

I directed Johannus to choose an elephant, and promised to reward 
aim should he prove successful. G-alloping furiously down the hill, 
I started the elephants with an unearthly yell, and instantly selected 
the finest in the herd. Placing myself alongside, I fired both barrels 
behind the shoulder, when he instantly turned upon me, and in his 
Impetuous career charged head foremost against a large bushy tree, 
which he sent flying before him high in the air with tremenduous 
force, coming down at the same moment violently on his knees. He 
then met the raging ^re, when, altering his course, he wheeled to 
the right-about. As I galloped after him I perceived another noble 
•iephant meeting us in an opposite direction, and presently the gallant 



HUNTING THE ELEPHANT. 411 



Johannus hove in sight, following his quarry at a respectful distance. 
Both elephants held on together, so I shouted to Johannus, " I will 
give your elephant a shot in the shoulder, and you must try to finish 
him." Spurring my horse, I rode close alongside, and gave the fresh 
elephant two shots immediately behind the shoulder, when he parted 
from mine, Johannus following; but before many minutes had elapsed 
that mighty Nimrod re-appeared, having fired one shot and lost h'm 
yrej. 

In the mean time I was loading and firing as fast as could be, some- 
times at the head, and sometimes behind the shoulder, until my ele- 
phant's fore-quarters were a mass of gore, notwithstanding which he 
continued to hold stoutly on, leaving the grass and branches of the 
forest scarlet in his wake. 

On one occasion he endeavored to escape by charging desperately 
amid the thickest of the flames ; but this did not avail, and I waa 
soon once more alongside. I blazed away at this elephant, until ] 
began to think that he was proof against my weapons. Having fired 
thirty-five rounds with my t\^o-grooved rifle, I opened fire upon him 
with the Dutch six-pounder ; and when forty bullets had perforated 
his hide, he began for the first time to evince signs of a dilapidated 
constitution. He took up a position in a grove ; and as the dogs 
kept barking round him, he backed stern foremost among the trees, 
which yielded before his gigantic strength. Poor old fellow 1 he had 
long braved my deadly shafts, but I plainly saw that it was now all 
over with him ; so I resolved to expend no further ammunition, but 
hold him in view until he died. Throughout the chase this elephant 
repeatedly cooled his person with large quantities of water, which he 
ejected from his trunk over his back and sides ; and just as the pangs 
of death came over him, he stood trembling violently beside a thorny 
t'fce, and kept pouring water into his bloody mouth until he died, 
when he pitched heavily forward, with the whole weight of his fore- 
quarters resting on the points of his tusks. 

A most singular occurrence now took place. He lay in this pos- 
ture for several seconds, but the amazing pressure of the carcass was 
more than the head was able to support. He had fallen with hii 
head so short under him that the tusks received little assistance from 



4x2 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



his i*gs. Something must give way. The strain on the mighty 
tusks «Tts fair; they did not, therefore, yield; but the portion of his 
head in which the tusk was imbedded, extending a long way above 
the eye, yielded and burst with a muffled crash. The tusk was thus 
free, and turned right round in his head, so that a man could draw 
it out, and the carcass fell over and rested on its side. This was a 
very first-rate elephant, and the tusks he carried were long and 
perfect. 







5S5SO:^<e»^ 



A KAFFIR. 



CHAPTER LXVII. 

RIDING OUT THE BULL ELEPHANT. 

Mf. Ccmminq used to ride fearlessly into a herd of eiephanta, 
Jrdrsu2 them through the forests, select the largest and finest male, 
and shoot him. This he calls riding out the best bull elephant. 
He thus describes an affair of this kind. The country now before 
me was a vast level forest, extending to the north and east for about 
twenty miles without a break. At that distance, however, the land- 
scape was shut in by blue mountain ranges of considerable height, 
and two bold conical mountains standing close together rose con- 
spicuous above the rest. These mountains, the Bamangwato men 
informed me were their ancient habitation, and that of their fore- 
fathers, but the cruel Matabili had driven them from thence to the 
rocky mountains which they now occupy. We continued our course 
in an easterly direction, and twice crossed the gravelly bed of a 
periodical river, in which were several small springs of excellent 
water. These springs had been exposed by elephants, which had 
cleared away the gravel with their trunks. Around these springs, 
the spoor of the rhinoceros was abundant. After proceeding several 
miles through a dry and barren tract, where wait-a-bit thorns pre 
Failed, we entered upon more interesting ground. The forest waw 
adorned with 7ery picturesque old trees of various sorts and sizes, 
which stood singly and in shady groups, while the main body jf the 
forest consisted of a variety of trees of other sorts, averaging the 
height of a gr^ffe. The elephants had left abundant traces of theii 
presence, but ,iL their marks were old. Fresh spoor of giraffe was 

(413^ 



4:14 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



imprinted on the ground on every side, and we presently saw a 
large herd of these, standing scattered through the forest to our left 
They were glorious fellows, but I was now in pursuit of nobler game : 
the natives were leading me to some distant fountain, where they 
expected we should discover spoor 

On we sped through the depths of the forest, our view being con- 
fined to about fifty yards on every side. Presently emerging upon 
a small open glade, I observed a herd of brindled gnoos and two ot 
three troops of pallahs ; and soon after, a second herd of about fifteen 
camelopards stood browsing before us, and, getting our wind, dashed 
away to our left. We had proceeded about two miles further, and 
it was now within two hours of sunset, when, lo ! a thorny tree newly 
smashed by an elephant. Some of the natives attentively examined 
the leaves of the broken branches to ascertain exactly when he had 
been there, while some for the same purpose overhauled the spoor 
rt was the spoor of a first-rate bull : he had fed there that morning 
at the dawn of day. The ground was hard and bad for spooring, but 
the natives evinced great skill, and, following it for a short distance, 
we came to ground were a troop of bull elephants had pastured not 
many hours before. Here the thorny trees on every side were de- 
molished by them, and huge branches and entire trees were rent and 
uprooted, and lay scattered across our path, having been carried seve- 
ral yards in the trunks of the elephants before they stood to eat the 
leaves : the ground also was here and there ploughed up by their tusks 
in quest of roots ; and in these places the enormous fresh spoor — 
that thrilling sight to a hunter's eye — was beautifully visible. 

All this was extremely interesting and gratifying ; but I had been 
Bc often disappointed, and it was now so very near sunset, that I en- 
tertained but faint hopes of finding them that evening. Mutchuisho 
was very anxious that I should see the elephants ; he had digested 
himself of his kaross, and, carrying one of the muskets which Sicomy 
had bought from me, he led the spooring party, consisting of about 
fifteen cunning old hands. The great body of the men he had ordered 
to sit down and remain quiet until the attack commenced. Having 
followed the spoor for a short distance, old Mutchuisho became ex- 
tremely excited, and told me that we were near the elephants. A 



HUNTING ELEPHANTS 417 



few minutes after several of the spoorers affirmed that they had heard 
the elephants break a tree in advance ; they differed, however, about 
the direction, some saying it was in front, and others that it was away 
to our left. Two or three men quickly ascended the tallest trees 
that stood near us, but they could not see the elephants. Mutchui 
eho then extended men to the right and left, while we continued on 
the spoor. 

In a few minutes one of those who had gone off to our left cane 
running breathless to say that he had seen the mighty game. I halted, 
for a minute, and instructed Isaac, who carried the big Dutch rifle, 
to act independently of me, while Kleinboy was to assist me in the 
chase ] but, as usual, when the row began, my followers thought only 
of number one. I bared my arms to the shoulder, and, having im- 
bibed a draught of aqua pura from the calabash of one of the spoorers, 
T grasped my trusty two-grooved rifle, and told my guide to go ahead. 
We proceeded silently as might be for a few hundred yards, following 
the guide, when he suddenly pointed, exclaiming, " Klow !" and be- 
fore us stood a herd of mighty bull elephants, packed together be- 
neath a shady grove about a hundred and fifty yards in advance. I 
rode slowly toward them, and, as soon as they observed me, they 
made a loud rumbling noise, and, tossing their trunks, wheeled right 
about and made off in one direction, crashing through the forest and 
leaving a cloud of dust behind them. I was accompanied by a de- 
tachment of my dogs, who assisted me in the pursuit. 

The distance I had come, and the difficulties I had undergone, to 
behold these elephants, rose fresh before me. I determined that on 
this occasion at least I would do my duty, and, dashing my spurs into 
" Sunday's" ribs, I was very soon too close in their rear for safety. 
The elephants now made an inclination to my left, whereby I obtained 
a good view of the ivory. The herd consisted of six bulls ; four of 
them were full-grown, first-rate elephants; the other two were fine 
fellows, but had not yet arrived at perfect stature. Of the four old 
fellows, two had much finer tusks than the rest, and for a few seconds 
l w«ts undecided which of these two I would follow ; when, suddenly 
the one which I fancied had the stoutest tusks broke from his com- 
rades, and I at once felt convinced that he was the patriarch of th^ 

27 



118 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



herd, and followed him accordingly. Cantering alongside, I wai 
about to fire, when he instantly turned, and, uttering a trumpet sc 
strong and shrill that the earth seemed to vibrate beneath my feet. 
W> charged furiously after me for several hundred yards in a direct 
line, not altering his course in the slightest i' :gree for the trees of 
the forest, which he snapped and overthrew like reeds in his headlong 
career. 

When he pulled up in his charge, I also halted ; and as he slowly 
turned to retreat, I let fly at his shoulder, ^' Sunday" capering and 
prancing, and giving me much trouble. On receiving the ball the 
elephant shrugged his shoulder, and made off at a free majestic walk. 
This shot brought several of the dogs to my assistance which had 
been following the other elephants, and on their coming up and 
barking another headlong charge was the result, accompanied by the 
never-failing trumpet as before. In his charge he passed close to me, 
when I saluted him with a second bullet in the shoulder, of which 
he did not take the slightest notice. I now determined not to fire 
again until I could make a steady shot ; but, although the elephant 
turned repeatedly, " Sunday" invariably disappointed me, capering 
so that it was impossible to fire. 

At length, exasperated, I became reckless of the danger, and, 
springing from the saddle, approached the elephant under cover of 
a tree, and gave him a bullet in the side of the head, when, trum- 
peting so shrilly that the forest trembled, he charged among the 
dogs, from whom he seemed to fancy that the blow had come ; after 
which he took up a position in a grove of thorns, with his head to- 
wards me. I walked up very near, and, as he was in the act of 
charging (being in those days under wrong impressions as to the im- 
practicability of bringing down an elephant with a shot in the fore- 
head,) stood coolly in his path until he was within fifteen paces of 
me, and let drive at the hollow of his forehead, in the vain expects^ 
tion that by so doing I should end his career. The shot only served 
to increase his fury — an effect which, I had remarked, shots in the 
head invariably produced; and, continuing his charge with incredible 
quicknsss aud impetuosity, he all but terminated my elephant-hunting 
for ever. A large party of the Bechuanas who had come up yelled 



HUNTING ELEPHANTS. 4x9 



r)ut Bimultaneouslj, imagining I was killed, for tki elephant was at 
one moment almost on the top of me : I, however, escaped bj my 
activity, and by dodging round the bushy trees. As the elephant 
was charging, an enormous thorn ran deep into the sole of my foot, 
the old Badenoch brogues, which I that day sported, being worn 
through ; and caused me severe pain, laming me throughout the rest 
of the conflict. 

The elephant held on through the forest at a sweeping pace; but 
he was hardly out of sight when I was loaded and in the saddle, and 
soon once more alongside. About this time I heard Isaac blazinir 
away at another bull; but when the elephant charged, his cowardly 
heart failed him, and he very soon made his appearance at a safe 
distance in my rear. M3 elephant kept crashing along at a steady 
pace, with blood streaming from his wounds; the dogs, which were 
knocked up with fatigue and thirst, no longer barked around him, 
but had dropped astern. It was long before I again fired, for I wag 
afraid to dismount, and ^' Sunday" was extremely troublesome. At 
length I fired sharp right and left from the saddle; he got both 
balls behind the shoulder and made a long charge after me, rum- 
bling and trumpeting as before. The whole body of the Bamang- 
wato men had now come up, and were following a short distance be- 
hind me. Among these was Mollyeon, who volunteered to help; and 
being a very swift and active fellow, he rendered me important ser- 
vice by holding my fidgety horse's head while I fired and loaded. I 
then fired six broadsides from the saddle, the elephant charging almost 
every time, and pursuing us back to the main body in our rear, 
who fled in all directions as he approached. 

The sun had now sunk behind the tops of the trees; it would 
very soon be dark, and the elephant did not seem much distressed, 
notwithstanding all he had received. I recollected that my time 
was short, therefore at once rcsolvsd to fire no more from the saddle, 
but to go close up to him and fire on foot. Riding up to him I dis- 
mounted, and, approaching very near, I gave it him right and left 
in the side of (he head, upon which he made a long and determined 
charge after me ; but I was now very reckless of his charges, for I saw 
that he could not overtake me, and in a twinkling I was loaded, 



420 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



aDd, again approaching, I fired sharp right and left behind hia 
shoulder. Again he charged with a terrific trumpet, which sent 
" Sunday" flying through the forest. This was his i.ast charge. The 
wounds which he had received began to tell on his constitution, and 
he now stood at bay beside a thorny tree, with the dogs barking 
around him. These, refreshed by the evening breeze, and perceiv- 
ing that it was nearly over with the elephant, had once more come 
to my assistance. Having loaded, I drew near and fired right and 
left at his forehead. On receiving these shots, instead of charging 
he tossed his trunk up and down, and by various sounds and motions, 
most gratifying to the hungry natives, evinced that his demise was 
near. Again I loaded, and fired my last shot behind his shoulder ; 
on received it, he turned round the bushy tree beside which he 
stood, and I ran round to give him the other barrel, but the mighty 
old monarch of the forest needed no more ; before I could clear the 
bushy tree he fell heavily on his side, and his spirit had fled. My 
feelings at this moment can only be understood by a few brothel 
Nimrods, who have had the good fortune to enjoy a similar encouD er 
I neve felt so gratified on any former occasion as I did then. 



^q^fUMAJIr 




ESTABLISHED 1875. 



CHAFkER^LXVni. ^^ £ 

MODERN ^%^&#^^%^ %-^«^«* 




The following is an account of an adventure wMch occurred \a 
Frank Forrester, in America. A large bear was traced to a cavern 
in the Round Mountain, and every effort made for three days with 
out success to smoke or burn him out. At length a bold hunter, 
familiar with the spot, volunteered to beard the bear in his den. The 
well-aperture, which, alone could be seen from without, descended 
for about eight feet, then turned off at right angles, running nearly 
horizontally for about six feet, beyond which it opened into a small 
circular chamber, where the bear had taken up his quarters. The 
man determined to descend, to worm himself, feet forward, on his 
back, and to shoot at the eyes of the bear, as they would be visible 
in the dark. Two narrow laths of pine wood were accordingly pro- 
cured, and pierced with holes in which candles were placed and lighted. 
A rope was next made fast about his chest, a butcher's knife disposed 
in readiness for his grasp, and his musket loaded with two good ounce 
bullets, well wrapped in greased buckskin. Gradually he disappeared 
thrusting the lights before him with his feet, and holding the musket 
ready cocked' in his hand. A few anxious moments- — a low stifled 
growl was heard — then a loud, bellowing, crashing report, followed 
by a loud and fearful howl, half anguish, half furious rage. The 
men above wildly and eagerly hauled up the rope, and the sturdy 
hunter was whirled into the aii uninjured, and retaining in his grasp 
his good weapon ; while the fierce brute rushed tearing after him 
iven to the cavern's mouth. As soon as the man had entered th« 

(423) 



424 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



small chamber, he perceived the glaring eyeballs of the bear, had 
taken steady aim, at them, and had, he believed, lodged his bi^Ueta 
fairly, Painful moanings were soon heard from within, and then all 
was still! Again the bold m^n determined to seek the monster; 
again he vanished, and his musket shot roared from the recesses of 
the rock. Up he was whirled ; but this time, the bear, streaming 
with gore, and furious with pain, rushed after him, and with a mighty 
bound, cleared the confines of the cavern ! A hasty and harmless 
volley was fired, while the bear glared around as if undecided upon 
which of the group to wreak his vengeance. Tom, the hunter, coolly 
raised his piece, but snap ! no spark followed the blow of the hammer ! 
With a curse Tom threw down the musket, and, drawing his knife, 
rushed forward to encounter the bear single handed. What would 
have been his fate had the bear folded him in his deadly hug, we 
may be pretty sure ; but ere this could happen, the four bullets did 
their work, and he fell ; a convulsive shudder passed through his 
frame, and all was still. Six hundred odd pounds did he weigh, an ] 
greit were the rejoicings at his destruotiou. 



CHAPTER LXIX. 

A LION HUNT ON THE RIVER MARIQUA. 

We trekked up along the banks of the river for the llariqaa, 
says Mr. Gumming, and a little before sundown fell in with two 
enormous herds of buffaloes, one of which, consisted chiefly of bulls, 
stood under the shady trees on one side of the bank, whilst the 
other, composed chiefly of cows and calves, stood on the opposite 
side, a little higher up the river. In all there were at least three 
hundred. Thinking it probable that if I hunted them 1 might kill 
Bome old bull with a head perhaps worthy of my collection, I orderef 
my men to outspan, and having saddled steeds, I gave chase to the 
herd of bulls, accompanied by Booi and my dogs. After a short 
burst they took through the river, where I lost sight of an old bull 
which carried the finest head in the herd. My dogs, however, 
brought a cow to bay as they crossed the river, which I shot stand- 
ing in the water, but not before she had killed a particularly favo- 
rite bull dog, named Pompey. I then continued the chase, and 
again came up with the herd, which was now considerably scattered ; 
and after a sharp chase, part of which was through thick wait-a-bit 
thorn cover, I brought eight or nine fine old bulls to bay in lofty 
reeds at the river's margin, exactly opposite to my camp; of these 
1 singled out the two best heads, one of which I shot with five balls, 
and wounded the other badly, but he made ofi" while I was engaged 
with his comrade. 

In the morning I instructed four of my people to cross the rive* 
f ' bring ove4 a supply of buffalo beef. These men were very re. 

(427) 



428 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



luctant to go, fearing a lion might have taken possession of the carcass 
On proceeding to reconnoitre from our side, they beheld the majesti'S 
beast they dreaded walk slowly up the opposite bank from the dead 
buffalo, and take up a position on the top of the bank under some 
ehady thorn-trees. I resolved to give him battle, and rode forth 
with my double-barrelled Westley Richards rifle, followed by men 
leading the dogs. Present, who was one of the party, carried hia 
"roer," no doubt to perform wonders. The wind blew up th« 
river , I accordingly held up to seek a drift, and crossed a short dis- 
tance above where the buffalo lay. As we drew near the spot, I ob- 
served the lion sitting on the top of the bank, exactly where he had 
been seen by my people. On my right, and within two hundred yard? 
of me, was a very extensive troop of pallahs, which antelope invari 
ably manages to be in the way when it is not at all wanted. On 
this occasion, however, I succeeded in preventing my dogs from ob- 
serving them. When the lion saw us coming, he overhauled us for 
a moment, and then slunk down the bank for concealment; being 
well to leeward of him, I ordered my dogs to be slipped, and galloped 
forward. 

On finding that he was attacked, the lion at first made a most de- 
termined bolt for it, followed by all the dogs at a racing pace j and 
when they came up with him he would not bay, but continued hia 
course down the bank of the river, keeping close in beside the reeds, 
growling terribly at the dogs, which kept up "in incessant angry bark- 
ing. The bank of the river was intersected by deep water-courses, 
and, the ground being extremely slippery from the rain which had 
fallen during the night, I was unable to overtake him until he came 
to bay in a patch of lofty dense reeds which grew on the lower bank, 
immediately adjacent to the river's margin. I had brought out eleven 
of my dogs, and before 1 could come up three of then were killed. 
On reaching the spot I found it impossible to obtain the smallest 
glimpse of the lion, although the ground favored me, I having the 
upper bank to stand on; so, dismounting from my horse, I tried to 
guess, from his horrid growling, his exact position, and fired several 
shots on chance, but none of these hit him. I then commenced pelt- 
ing him with lumps Oi earth and sticks, there being no stones at 



HUNTING LIONS. 429 



hand. This haa the effect of making him shift his position, but he 
Biill kept in the densest part of the reeds, where I could do nothing 
with him. 

Presently my followers came up, who, as a matter of course, at 
once established themselves safely in the tops of thorn-trees. After 
about ten minutes' bullying, the lion seemed to consider his quarters 
too hot for him, and suddenly made a rush to escape from his perse- 
cutors, continuing his course down along the edge of the river. The 
dogs, however, again gave him chase, and soon brought him to bay 
in another dense patch of reeds, just as bad as the last. Out of this 
in a few minutes I managed to start him, when he bolted up the 
river, and came to bay in a narrow strip of reeds. Here he lay so 
close that for a long time I could not ascertain his whereabouts ; at 
length, however, he made a charge among the dogs, and, coming 
forward took up a position near the outside of the reeds, where for 
the first time I was enabled to give him a shot. My ball entered 
Lis body a little behind the shoulder. On receiving it he charged 
growling after the dogs, but no farther than the edge of the reeds, 
out of which he was extremely reluctant to move. I gave him a 
second shot, firing for his head; my ball entered his eye, and passed 
through the back of the roof of his mouth. 

The lion then sprang up, and facing about, dashed through the 
/eeds, and plunged into the river, across which he swam, dyeing the 
waters with his blood; one black dog, named ''Schwart," alone 
pursued him. A huge crocodile, attracted by the blood, followed in 
jheir wake, but fortunately did not take my dog, which I much 
feared he would do. Present fired at the lion as he swam, and 
missed him ; both my barrels were empty. Before, however, the 
lion could make the opposite bank, I had one loaded without patch, 
and just as his feet grazed the ground I made a fine shot at his 
neck, and turned him over dead on the spot. Present, Carollus, 
and Adonis, then swam in and brought him through. We landed 
him by an old hippopotamus foot-path, and, the day being damp 
and cold, we kindled a fire, beside which we skinned him. While 
this was going forward I had a painful duty to perform viz. to load 
one barrel, and blow out Rascality's brains, whom the lion had ut- 



430 



HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



ierlj disabled in his after-quarters. Thus ended this protracted and 
all but unsuccessful hunt ; for when I at length managed to shoot 
him, the dogs were quite tired of it, and, the reeds being green, I 
eould not have set them on fire to force him out. 

The lion proved to be a first-rate one ; he was in the prime of life 
and had an exquisitely beautiful coat of hair. His mane was not 
?ery rank ; his awful teeth were quite perfect, a thing which in lion^ 
of his age is rather unusual ; and he had the finest tuft of hair on 
the end of his tail that I had ever seen on a lion. In the chase my 
after-rider, who fortunately did not carry my rifle, got a tremenduous 
capsize from bad riding, a common occurrence with most after-riders 
who have been employed in my service. The afternoon was spent 
in drying the wet mane of the lion, skinning out the feet, and pre- 
serving the skin with alum and arsenical soap. 




CHAPTER LXX. 

SIR. w. c. Harris's giraffe hunt. 

Some of the best and most animating accounts of giraffe kanti 
Me contained in the work of Sir W. Cornwallis Harris. Of his 
magnificent folio, *' Portraits of the Game and Wild Animals of 
Africa/' we cannot speak too highly ; it is equal, in many respects, 
to the truly-superb folios of Mr. Gould. From it we extract the 
following spirit-stirring adventures : 

It was on the morning of our departure from the residence of hia 
Amazoola majesty, that I first actually saw the giraffe. Although 
I had been for some weeks on the tiptoe of expectation, we had hith 
erto succeeded in finding the gigantic footsteps only of the tallest c/ 
all the quadrapeds upon the earth ; but at dawn of that day, a large 
party of hungry savages, with four of the Hottentots on horseback, 
having accompanied us across the Mariqua in search of elands, which 
were reported to be numerous in the neighborhood, we formed a long 
line, and, having drawn a great extent of country blank, divided into 
two parties, Richardson keeping the right, and myself to the left. 
Beginning, at length, to despair of success, I had shot a hartebeeste 
for the savages, when an object, which had repeatedly attracted my 
eye, but which I had as often persuaded myself was nothing more 
than the branchless stump of some withered tree, suddenly shifted 
its position, and the next moment I distinctly perceived that singular 
form of which the apparition had ofttimes visited my slumbers, but 
^pon whose reality I now gtzed for the first time. Gliding rapidly 
among the trees, above the topmost bran les, of many of which ita 

28 (43i5) 



434 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



graceful head nodded like some lofty pine, all doubt was in another 
moment at an end — it was the stately, the long-sought giraffe, and, 
putting spurs to my hors.e, and directing the Hottentots to follow, I 
presently found myself half choked with excitement, rattling at the 
heels of an animal which, to me, had been a stranger even in its cap- 
tire state, and which, thus to meet free on its native plains, has 
fcllen to the lot of but few of the votaries of the chase ; sailing be- 
fore me with incredible velocity, his long swan-like neck, keeping 
time to the eccentric motion of his stilt-like legs — his ample black 
tail curled above his back, and whisking in ludicrous concert with 
the rocking of his disproportioned frame — he glided gallantly along 
*^ like some tall ship upon the ocean's bosom," and seemed to leave 
whole leagues behind him at each stride. 

The ground was of the most treacherous description ; a rotten, 
black soil, overgrown with long, coarse grass, which concealed from 
view innumerable gaping fissures, that momentarily threatened to 
bring down my horse. For the first five minutes, I rather lost than 
gained ground, and, despairing over such a country of ever diminish- 
ing the distance, or improving my acquaintance with this ogre in 
seven league boots, I dismounted, and the mottled carcass present- 
ing a fair and inviting mark, I had the satisfaction of hearing two 
balls tell roundly upon his plank-like stern. But as well might I 
have fired at a wall ; he neither swerved from his course or slackened 
his pace, and pushed on so far ahead during the time that I was re- 
loading, that, after remounting, I had some diffinilty in even keep- 
ing sight of him among the trees. Closing again, however, I re- 
peated the dose on the other quarter, and spurred my horse along, 
ever and anon sinking to the fetlock — the giraffe now flagging at 
each stride — until, as I was coming up hand-over-hand, and success 
seemed certain, the cup was suddenly dashed from my lips, and down 
I came headlong — my horse having fallen into a pit, and lodged me 
close to an ostrich's nest, near which two of the old birds were 
sitting. Happily, there were no bones broken, but the violence 
of the shock had caused the lashings of my previously-broken rifle 
to give way, and had do ibled tt»e stocks in half, the barrels only hang- 
ing to the wood by the trigger guard. Nothing dismayed, however, 



HUNING THE GIRAFFE. 43& 



Dy this b iavy calamity, I remounted my jaded beast, and one more 
gffort brought me ahead of my wearied victim, which stood still and 
allowed me to approach In vain did I now attempt to bind my frao- 
tured rifle with a pocket-handkerchief, in order to admit of my ad- 
ministering the coup de grace. The guard was so contracted that, 
in the tantalizing phantasies of a night-mare, the hammer could not 
be brought down upon the nipple. In vain I looked around for a 
Btone, and sought in every pocket for my knife, with which either to 
htrike the copper-cap and bring about ignition, or hamstring the co- 
lossal but harmless animal, by whose towering side I appeared the 
verie&t pigmy in the creation. Alas ! I had lent it to the Hotten- 
tots to cut off the head of the hartebeeste, and, after a hopeless search 
ia the remotest corners, each hand was withdrawn empty. Yainly 
did I then wait for the tardy and rebellious villians to come to my 
assistance, making the welkin ring, and my throat tingle with reite 
rated shouts. Not a soul appeared, and in a few minutes the giraffe, 
having recovered his wind, and being only slightly wounded on the 
hind-quarters, shuffled his long legs, twisted his bushy tail over hig 
back, walked a few steps, then broke into a gallop, and, diving into 
the mazes of the forest, presently disappeared from my sight. Dis- 
appointed and annoyed at my discomfiture, I returned toward the 
wagons, now eight miles' distant, and on my way overtook the Hot- 
tentots, who, pipe in mouth, were leisurely strolling home, with an 
air of total indifference as to my proceedings, having- come to th^ 
conclusion that " Sir, could not fung de kameel" (catch the giraffe,) 
for which reason they did not think it worth while to follow me, asi 
I had directed. Two days after this catastrophe, having advanced 
to the Tolaan River, we again took the field, accompanied by the whole 
of the male inhabitants of three large kraals, in addition to those that 
had accompanied us from the last encampment. The country had 
now become undulating, extensive mimosa groves occupying all the 
valley as well as the banks of the Tolaan winding among them, on 
its way to join "'le Mariqua. Before we had proceeded many hun- 
dred yards, our progress was opposed by a rhinocer-)s, who looked in 
defiance, but quickly took the hint we gave him to get out of the 
way. Two fat elands had been pointed out at the verge of the copw 



t36 HUNTING ADVENTURIJS. 



the moment before. One jf which Richardson di?posed of ifith bul 
little difficulty, the other xeading me through all the intricacies of 
the labyrinth to a wide plain on the opposite side. On entering which, 
I found the fugitive was prostrate at my feet in i,he middle of a troop 
of giraffes, who stooped their long necks, astounded at the intrusion, 
:hen consulted a moment how they should best escape the impending 
danger, and in another they were sailing away at their utmost speed. 
1 o have followed upon my then jaded horse would have been absurd, 
and I was afterward unable to recover any trace of them. 

Many days elapsed before we again saw the tall giraffe, nor were 
our eyes gladdened with his sight until after we had crossed *he 
Cashan Mountains to the country of the Baquaina, for the express 
purpose of seeking for him. After the many contretemps, how shall 
I express the sensations I experienced as, on a cool November evening, 
after rapidly following some fresh traces in profound silence, for sev- 
eral miles, I at length counted from the back of *' Breslau," my most 
trusty steed, no fewer than thirty-two of various sizes industriously 
stretching their peacock necks to crop the tiny leaves that fluttered 
above their heads, in a flowering mimosa grove which beautified the 
Ecenery. My heart leaped within me, and my blood coursed like 
quicksilver through my veins, for, with a firm wooded plain before 
mo, I knew they were mine; but, although they stood within a hun- 
dred yards of me, having previously determined to try the " boarding^* 
system, reserved my fire. 

Notwithstanding that I had taken the field expressly to look foi 
giraffes, and in consequence of several of the remarkable spoors of 
these animals having been seen the evening before, had taken four 
mounted Hottentots in my suite, all excepting Piet had, as usual, 
slipped off unperceived in pursuit of a troop of koodoos. Our steal- 
thy approach was soon opposed by an ill-natured rhinoceros, which, 
with her old fashioned calf, stood directly in our path, and the 
twinkling of her bright little eyes, accompanied by a restless rolling 
of the body, giving earnest of her mischievous intentions, I directed 
Piet to salute her with a broadside, at the same time putting spurs 
to my horse. At the report of the gun, and sudden clatter of the 
hoofs- away bounded the herd in grotesque confusion, clearing the 



HUNTING THE GIRAFFE. 437 

gr-mnd by a succession of frog-like leaps, and leaving me far ir the 
rear. Twice were their towering forms concealed from view by a 
park ct trees, which we entered at the same instant, and twic3, on 
emerging from the labyrinth, did I perceive them tilting over an 
eminence far in advance, their sloping backs reddening in the sun- 
shine, as with giant port they topped the ridges in right gallant 
style. A white turban that I had round my hunting cap, being 
drawn off by a projecting bough, was instantly charged and tramplea 
, under foot by three rhinoceroses, and long afterward, looking over ujy 
shoulder, I could perceive the ungainly brutes in the rear faggmg 
themselves to overtake me. In the course of five minutes the fugi- 
tives arrived at a small river, the treacherous sands of which receiv- 
ing their spider-legs, their flight was greatly retarded, and by the 
time they had floundered to the opposite side and scrambled to the 
top of the bank, I could perceive that their race was run. Patting 
the neck of my good steed, I urged him again to his utmost, and in- 
stantly found myself aside of the herd. The lordly chief being 
readily distinguishable from the rest by his dark chestnut robe, and 
superior stature, I applied the muzzle of my rifle behind his dappled 
shoulder with my right hand, and drew both triggers; but he still 
continued to shuffle along, and being afraid of losing him should I 
dismount, among the extensive mimosa groves with which the land- 
scape was now obscured, I sat in my saddle, loadm^ and firing be- 
hind the elbow, and then placing myself across his path to obstruct 
his progress. Mute, dignified, and majestic stood the unfortunate 
victim, occasionally stooping his elastic neck towards his persecutor, 
the tears trickling from the lashes of his dark humid eye, as broad- 
lide after broadside was poured into his brawny front. 

" His drooping head sinks gradually low, 
And through his side the last drops ebbing slow 
From the red gash fall heavy one by one, 
Like the first of a thunder shower." 

Presently a convulsive shivering seized his limbs, his coat stood on 
end, his lofty fn.me began to totter, and at the seventeenth discharge 
from the deadly grooved bore, like a falling minaret bowing his grace- 



488 HUNriNG ADVENTUl ES. 



ful head from the skies, his proud form was prostrate in *he dust. 
Never shall I forget the intoxicating excitement of that moment ! A* 
lastj then, the summit of my ambition was actually attained, and the 
towering giraffe laid low ! Tossing my turbanless cap into the air, 
ilone m the wild wood, I hurraed with bursting exultation, and un- 
saddling my steed, sank, exhausted with delight, beside the noble 
prize I had won. 

While I leisurely contemplated the massive form before me, seeni* 
ing as though it had been cast in a mould of brass, and wrapped ia 
a hide an inch and a half in thickness, it was do longer matter of 
astonishment that a bullet discharged from a distance of eighty or 
ninety yards should have been attended with little effect upon suoh 
amazing strength. 

Two hours were passed in completing a drawing, and Piet still not 
making his appearance, I cut off the ample tail, which exceeded five 
feet in length, and was measureless the most estimable trophy I bad 
ever gained. But on proceeding to saddle my horse, which I had left 
quietly grazing by the running brook, my chagrin may be conceived 
when I discovered that he had taken advantage of my occupation to 
free himself from his halter and abscond. Being ten miles from the 
wagons, and in a perfectly strange country, I felt convinced that the 
only chance of saving my pet from the clutches of the lion, was to 
follow his trail; while doing which with infinite difficulty, the 
ground scarcely deigning to receive a foot-print, I had the satisfac- 
tion of meeting Piet and Mohanycom, who had fortunately §een and 
re-captured the truant. Returning to the giraffe, we all feasted 
merrily on the flesh, which although highly scented with the rank 
mokaala blossoms, was far from despicable, and losing our way in 
consequence of the twin-like resemblance of two scarped hills, we 
did not finally regain the wagons until after the setting sun beams 
had ceased to play upon the trembling leaves of the light acacias, 
and the golden splendor which was sleeping upon the plain had 
gradually pasr^ed away. 

Singular and striking as is the form of the giraffe, it only ftir« 
nishes a proof of the wonderful manner in which *a all wise Creato* 
has adapted means to ends. A vegetable fee4«j but an inhabitant 



HUirriNG THE GIRAFFE. 439 



of sterile and sandy deserts, its long slender neck and sloping body^. 
enable it to reach with ease its favorite food ; leaf by leaf is daintily 
plucked from the lofty branch by the pliant tongue and a mouth- 
ful of tender and juicy food is speedily accumulated. The oblique 
and narrow apertures of the nostrils, defended even to their mlirgina 
by a chevaux de frise of strong hairs, and surrounded by muscular 
fibres by which they can be hermetically sealed, effectually prevent 
the entrance of the fine particles of sand which the suffocating storms 
oi the desert raise in fiery clouds, destructive to the lord of the cre- 
ation. Erect on those stilt-like legs, the giraffe surveys the wide ex- 
panse, ana feeds at ease, for those mild, large eyes are so placed tL at 
it can see not only on all sides, but even behind, rendering it next 
to impossible for an enemy to approach undiscovered. As we reflect 
on these and numberless other points for admiration presented , y the 
giraffe, we involuntarily exclaim with the Psalmist, " Oh, Lord 1 bow 
manifoM are thy works ; in wisdom has thou made them all !" 

" Nature to these, without profusion kind, 
The proper organs, proper powers assigned; 
Each seeming what compensated of course, 
Here with degrees of swiftness, there of foiv« } 
All in exact proportion to the state, 
Koihing to addi, aod notluiig to ftbfti*." 



CHAPTER LXXI. 

A BRUSH WITH A BISON. 

iJUiL loiiowing t .rilling narrative of a buffalo hunt, is by John M: Ufl^ 
Esq. We were now on the verge of the upper prairies, no longer ena- 
meled with flowers and flowering plants, but covered with a short, 
soarse, herbage called '' buffklo grass," on which the buff'alo loves to 
feed. These hunting grounds are far easier to ride over, from being 
free from vines and entangling shrubs which interlace each other in 
impenetrable masses, although the yawning clefts, made by the water 
courses, the» wallows formed by the buffaloes making baths for them- 
selves by ripping the earth open with their heads in soft, oozy spots, 
and the burrowing of that sharp and watchful little animal the prairie 
dog, cause both horse and horseman to run considerable risk when 
taking a spin over the flat. Hill and dale, bluffs and level, the land- 
scape broken upon the eye in one of those infinite and fruitful waters, 
strikes the mind with awe at its grand and boundless scale. 

The serious object of the expedition was now on the eve of being 
realized, and the land of promise being gained, every preparation 
had been made the succeeding morning for a regular buffalo hunt 
In addition to my rifle and pistols, I carri 3d a long lance with the 
shaft made of the toughest ash. This weapon I lound rather un- 
wieldy and awkward, and saw how diiTerent it looked in the hands 
of my companions ; but Hawkoye ii;sisted that it was indispensable, 
as I could not attempt the use of bow and arrow. 

Stripped of all superfluous garments, and fully equipped for the ex- 
pedition, my companions mounted their horses, with their lassoes 
uncoiled and trailing upon the ground, as invariably is the rule in 
(440) 



HUNTING THE BISON. 443 



«f Ar or hunting, for the purpose of facilitating the re-capture of the 
animal should an unlucky separation take place between the rider 
and his saddle. Alike eager for the sport, both horses and men 
seemed to be moved by a desire to let no "important delay" stand 
between them and the consummation of their hopes, and, as we 
moved forward to give chase to the herds which were known to be 
in the vicinity, I thought that a finer set of Osage hunters, albeit 
the last of the race, never, perhaps, drew a bowstring or couched st 
lance. Indeed, nothing can be conceived handsomer than they looked, 
ds, with their bronzed chests and finely-developed limbs exposed, 
they sat upon their plunging horses like statues of faultless mould. 
A few had decorated their bits and bridles with blue and scarlet 
tassels, and not the least of the most gayly-decked was my retainer, 
Hawkeye, who appeared disposed to be equally conspicuous in field, or 
tent, or lady's bower. 

It was now that I rued the luckless mishap which cost me Sunny- 
eide, and learned — alas ! not for the first time — the true value of 
lessons taught by experience. For knowing how much depends on 
their horses, in expeditions of this kind, the Indians take the great- 
est care in running no unnecessary risks with them, although when 
in the ardor of the chase they ride like demons, and reck little of- 
danger to life and limb. 

As my wild colt had successfully given me the slip at the moment 
of anticipating his services in carrying me " to buiFalo," I was fain 
to depend still upon Nigger, who, Hawkeye swore by the shades of 
his fathers, would outstrip the best of the herd, " if I only drove my 
spurs well in and held them there." Certes, this was a fair specimen 
of Indian treatiaent to the horse, more particularly should his master 
be in possession of the white man's instruments of control. Delighted 
with making an exhibition of his horsemanship, and totally regard- 
less of the maddening eflfects of bit and spur, the Indian is never at 
rest with them, but keeps both at work with relentless rigor and 
perseverance. Among the red man's virtues, humanity to tho brute 
creation, or indeed to those of his own kind, can not be classed with 
an approach to truth. 

Without evincing any emotion of deep chagrin, Adonis was lef 



444 HUNTi:^G ADVENTURES. 



behind to guard such goods, chattels, and provisions as would havi 
proved useless to have been carried forward, and as it was expected 
that we should be enabled to return to the encampment before night- 
fall, he was directed to hold all things in readiness, and more espe- 
cially to withstand temptation in keeping his mouth from the bung 
of my whiiky-jug. In an extended line, or by the familiar descrip- 
tion of Indian file, we began this march as usual just at ruddy day- 
break, and were not far advanced on the great prairie stretching be- 
fore us like a vast and limitless ocean, when Blackwolf, who headed 
the force, reined in his dark iron-gray steed with a sudden jerk 
whi^h sent him nearly upon his haunches. In an instant all was 
commotion. Arrows were drawn from their quivers, bow-strings 
were tied and thrummed, lances poised, and every eye directed to 
the spot on which the chief fixed his earnest and flashing gaze. 

Not two miles distant, and feeding in fancied security on a piece 
of table land as level as a bowling-green, a large herd of bufi"alo was 
descried, looking at the distance like so many black specks on the 
waste. Some I could perceive were lying down, and the scene alto- 
gether may be compared, without violence to the imagination, to 
what the tourist may witness by the aid of railways, within a few hours 
of any of our principal cities, and where no dread exists of Pawnees 
and Camanches. 

It was decided that we should head the herd, and endeavor to 
drive them back toward the encampment, in order to save as little 
time and trouble as possible in getting the meat and skins to that 
quarter. In prosecuting this scheme we had to make a wide circle 
from the direct course, and, indeed, it would have been impossible to 
approach them in any other way, as we were down the wind, and their 
powers of scent, like those given to the denizens of the wild in ge- 
neral, are of the most acute order. 

^' You know, major," observed Hawkeye, as he turned our horses 
considerably to the left, for the purpose of covering our circumvent- 
ing manoeuvre under the screen of two lines of bluffs running parallel 
with each other, "You know, major," repeated he, with a slight 
twinkle of satire in his snake-like eyes, " for all de Britishers dat 
come here, say * you know' to every thing, dat hnSalo smell Indian 



HUNTING THE BISON. 445 



mile off. No see far; but smell — Hah! no saying how far buffalo 
smell." 

Taking every precaution to prevent an exercise of these powers 
upon the force now approaching their precincts, our head and fioni 
of the party, Blackwolf led us, with consummate generalship, close to 
^;he rear of the unsuspecting animals, and we were upon them with- 
out a single head being disturbed. At first, we gave ourselves to 
view from behind the bluffs, a few of the nearest jerked up their 
heads, and after a stare, remarkable for its brevity, erected their 
tufted tails over their backs and moved off not rapidly, but evidently 
preparing for a bolt. This example was soon followed by several 
others; but as the main body, consisting of upward of a hundreu, 
Still remained undisturbed, the signal for attack was reserved, as the 
first object in buffalo-hunting appears to be precisely ihat in our own 
glorious fox-hunting — to get on good terms with the chase. Cau- 
tiously, and restraining the ardent and fierce spirit cf our horses to 
tecp within the compass of control, we still slowly advanced in a doubie 
iine, while many of the animals knowing, like an old seasoned En- 
glish hunter when he catches a glimpse of the pack at the meet, tbs 
tun in preparation, pulled with might and main and almost defied tne 
.,talwart tug upon their iawa 

The pickets having been driven in, 1 noticed an animai of striking 
appearance surrounded by a knot of others, suddenly throw up hi!, 
head, and elevating his tail simultaneously with his pericranium, whee* 
suddenly in an opposite direction and gallop away, douotlessly, as fa.«: 
as his legs and hoofs would carry him. 

This praiseworthy precedent of self-preservation was immeaiaier, 
adopted by the entire family, and the patriarch, leading the way. 
found ready follow irs at a pace corresponding with his own. 

It was a moment of the most thrilling excitement of my life, as 
with a swoop the Indians dashed ahead, and with halter and reiii 
dangling free, to see their horses strain their utmost powers to out- 
strip the fugitives, and bring them within reach of bow and lance. 
Nigger, I may confidently state, did his best without the aid of Hawk- 
eye's cruel suggestion, although in a very short distance, it was con- 
•lusively obvious that he could not long live the pace wp were going 



446 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



At The pon^ however, with his ears thrown back like a race horse, 
at his final effort, and we were within a few score yards at the mo 
ment of Black wolf's bearing close to the right side of the nearest 
buffalo, and drawing his bow at the moment of passing, buried the 
arrow to the feather. In an instant the horse wheeled to avoid the 
thrust which the wounded buffalo often makes; but Blackwolf's victim 
was stricken in a vital part, and he rolled over struggling and bleed- 
ing in the throes of deadly agony. Right and left the Indians scoured 
the plain in hot pursuit of the doomed and frightened animals, and 
never halting in the chase, but rushing from one to another as thtt 
huge beasts shouldered along in their ungainly gallop down the val- 
lies and over the bluffs, and across huge gaping rents in the prairie, 
aused by the winter torrents, brought them to the ground like skittlea 
from well-directed hands. 

There appeared to be no chance for me to flesh my maiden lance, 
and I began to despair of adding a single head to the number slain, 
when I caught sight of a solitary fugitive stealing away through & 
stony ravine much to the left of the line which the rest had taken, 
and from his action I concluded that he had met with a wound which 
materially interfered with his speed. With an unequivocd disposi- 
tion to refuse taking any other course than the one he was pursu- 
ing, Nigger began to wrestle for the i^astership, and being encum- 
bered with my lance, I had some difficulty in pricking him toward 
the point where the buffalo, alone in his flight, was using his best 
energies to escape. The pointed iron, however, prevailed, and the 
plucky little horse, seeing the animal scramble over a conical shaped 
hillock in the distance, settling himself again in his best pace, and 
carried me forward in winning style. 

The buffalo in his stride is a most singular looking animal, pitch- 
ing to and fro in heavy lumbering fashion, and yet gets over the 
ground much faster than he appears. From the thickness of his foic- 
hand he is any thing but speedy on rising ground ; but on a level, 
or descent, he can play a merry Dat. He is, however, no mateh fof 
a horse under any circumstances, and under-sized as Nigger was, 
and notwithstanding the distance lost at the start, I have no doubt, 



HUNTING THE BISON. 44"^ 



had he not been crippled, but that we should have come up with the 
patriarch in a rua of somewhat longer duration. 

As it was, we were, in nautical phraseology, coming up with the 
chase hand over hand, and after floundering through a spongy bottom, 
in which were several ^fallows of some dozen feet in diameter made 
by the buffaloes, I found myself near enough to try the effect of 
lead, and dropping my l&nce to trail along the ground by a thong 
attached to my wrist, for I was not expert enough to handle both it 
and my rifle, as an Indian would have done without inconvenience, 
I brought the barrels to bear and gave the contents of both just as 
Nigger's nose was on a level with the haunch of one of the largest 
and blackest bulls that ever ranged over a western plain. 

With due regard for the preservation of himself, and possibly his 
rider, Nigger made an abrupt curve, and sheering off, almost at a 
right angle, avoided an ugly vicious thrust, which the bull might 
have made much more effective than my brace of bullets, had not 
the sagacity of the pony taught him to avoid it. Upon reining in 
my gallant and discreet little steed, and turning his head again to- 
ward the buffalo, I saw that he was standing still, and giving as bold 
a front as was ever offered to an enemy. Coming to a correspond- 
ing position, I deliberately re-loaded my rifle, and approached him 
with the greatest caution ; for whether he intended to wait my se- 
cond attack, or plunge forward and send me and Nigger skimming 
to some unknown corner of the earth, appeared a matter of doubt 
not quite made up. After a few brief moments for reconnoitring, 
I urged ray horse to advance to within less than thirty paces of 
where the bull stood gazing at us, with his curling mane and beard 
sweeping below his knees, and his distended jaws dropping foam, 
scarlet dyed with blood. Nothing, indeed, can be imagined more 
ferocious than the wounded animal looked, fixing the peculiar white 
balls and blaek iris of his eyes upon us, under his shaggy frontlet, 
with the expression of the devil in a mood far from funny. Think- 
ing it expedient to bring the contest to a conclusion without further 
waste of time, I essayed a manoeuvre in order to obtain a sight at a 
more vulnerable part of my victim's carcass than that which, as I had 
been given to understand by Hawkeye, his head presented. But. as 



as HUNTINQ ADVE^JTXJKES. 



the baited grimalkin turns to the worrying cur, so did tl e bull tun 
tyactly with my movements, ever presenting his head, and nothing 
but his head. This proving exceedingly wearisome, and quickly ex- 
hausted the shnder stock of patience with which nature supplied me 
at my birth, I resolved to try what a shot would do in the centre of 
bis forehead, and steadying my horse for a moment, snapped my left 
barrel at him, when with the crack he dropped down, and spurring 
forward with the belief that I had given him his coup de grace, \ 
was not a little surprised to see him again stagger to his feet, ready 
to receive me on his two short black horns, curved in the best 
possible shape for the ripping business. 

Perceiving, however, that notwithstanding the last bullet had only 
flattened on his face, he was fast sinking from the internal hemor- 
rhage caused by the two first, which brought him to a check, I 
determined, therefore, to expend no more valuable ammunition upon 
him, but inflict a final thrust or two of cold steel. Re-slinging my 
rifle across my shoulders, I for the first time couched a lance foi a 
deadly object, and i-ode at the bulFs flank ; but he was too quick 
for me, and turned, as if upon a pivot. Round and round we went 
Nigger, with pricked ears and nimble limbs, keeping a steady loot 
upon the bufi'alo's movements, and far from liking the loud snorts 
of mingled rage and pain which he momentarily sent forth as we 
whirled about him. But the attempts of the enemy to foil our par- 
pose grew gradually weaker, and at length failing to twist with his 
former adroitness, I plunged the head of the lance to the shaft in his 
body, and as I plucked it out, the crimson current of his life poured 
forth, and falling upon his knees, he rolled over dead without a 
struggle. 

Dismounting from Nigger, who steamed and reeked, probably from 
the combined efi"ects of fear and exertion, I commenced a close in- 
spection of my victim, and found that an arrow had passed into the 
fleshy part of the near thigh, not far from the hock, and, breaking 
within a few inches of the barbed point, left it buried there. The 
beast was certainly a fine specimen of the wild bull of the prairie, 
and might, from his huge size, patriarchial beard, and luxuriant mane 
irhich almost imbedded his head, ears, and horns, have roved maiif 



HUNTING THE BISON. 449 



«iicoe»sive jears as the chieftain of his clan. But in a luckless liouf 
the Osage hunters espied his whereabouts, and within a short half 
hour of the discovery, not a single head lived, not a remnant was left. 

So occupied and engrossed had I been with mj own sport, that I 
had taken no interest in what was going on with my companions; 
but upon making a sweep of the horizon, I perceived a few in sight, 
scattered here and there, evidently occupiea with the carcasses of 
the slain. Climbing again into the saddle, I rode to the nearest, 
and found Firefly busily engaged in stripping a skin from a cow, and 
as it smoked from his bloody fingers, I must own, a slight nausea 
affected the regions of my stomach. Hot, naked, and fierce from ex* 
citement, the savage was tearing away at his butchering task, and 1 
was glad to turn aside from the gory and sickening sight. 

The rest, he informed me, I should find similarly employed with 
himself, as the whole herd was killed, and seven had fallen to his bow. 
He boasted of having used but a single arrow to each head ; but I 
subsequently found this was not quite in accordance with the truth, 
although the first three had fallen as he described, at the first shot, 
and his quiver proved that many shafts had not been thrown away. 

Upon leaving Firefly at his truly dirty work, I put Nigger to a 
gentle canter, and soon passed several carcasses of the buffaloes 
stretched on the greensward, where they had fallen dead, or been 
disabled by the arrow, and subsequently lanced by the hunters who 
swept in the trail of the bowmen. 

Like flies collecting around carrion, so do the birds and beasts of 
prey hover and slink towards the scene of carnage on the prairie 
from every quarter, and with marvellous powers discover the spot 
where tiieir feast is prepared. In incredible numbers, ravens, bui- 
zards, crows, and others of the same large family, now wheeled, 
screaming most discordantly in the air, and packs of wolves appeared 
howling impatient for the banquet. The appearance of the animals 
in the distance is that of a flock of sheep, being generally perfectly 
white; but among some dozen or fifteen occupied a bluff" in the 
course I was taking, and howling a most dismal chorus, I perceived 
a jet black member, whose skin I felt desirous of possessing. It is 
dot, howevtr, an easy task to get on close term? with a wolf, unlesi 

29 



450 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



gorging himself, when so reluctant is he to quit his meal, that, cra« 
ren-hearted as he is, he can scarcely be driven from it; but turning 
Nigger's head away from them, as if I intended in no way to inter* 
npt the assembly, I suddenly brought him in an opposite direction, 
upon getting on a line with the yelling crew, and, spurring hard, 
Bent them scampering at their best speed. It was a long, raking 
shot, but covering the knight of the sable hue, I pulled, and dropped 
him with a shot through the spine. He grinned most horribly, and 
snapped his teeth together like the rattle of castanets, as I rode up 
close to his side, and gave him his quietus with a pistol. 

There being an insurmountable difficulty in marking the spot where 
he fell, as neither tree nor bush was to be seen by which it could be 
retraced, I considered it advisable to make sure of my booty by car- 
rying it with me, and as I was not expert in flaying, I was compelled 
to lift the carcass, and, bearing it with me across the pony's shoulders, 
commenced a piece of diversion for my red-skinned friends, which 
lasted as long as I was with them. 

Seeing a group of hunters coming towards me, I advanced to meet 
them, among the foremost I distinguished the bold Hawkeye, who 
carried a large bale of hides in front of him, and in the same way 
that T was carrying my treasure. 

" Has major killed buff''lo V inquired he; but before I could re- 
turn any answer, he saw the quality of my prize, and bursting into 
a roar of laughter, exclaimed, '' Major's meat ! Ha ! ha ! ha ! Major's 
meat ! Nice roast, major, but herry lean !" 

The rest also were moved with equal mirth at the trouble I had 
taken at bagging a wolf, and I was twitted immensely by my fac- 
tious critics, who, had they been seen rolling on their horses, making 
the welkin ring with shout? of laughter, would have given a practi- 
cal denial of the solemn character assigned to them by the writers 
of fiction for the subscribers of circulating libraries. Notwithstand- 
ing the explanation given, I was frequently reminded of the great 
care T bestowed upon the carcass of the black wolf, it being alleged 
that my intention was to eat the most savory parts, only for th€ 
discovery of the error that he did not come under the head of game 



CHAPTER LXXn. 

GERARD, THE LION-SLAYER. 

The people of India, Turkey, and Arabia, who profess the Mahom- 
h^edan faith, are fatalists ; that is, they believe every thing that will 
happen to them has been decreed beforehand by God, and that it is 
therefore useless to resist misfortune, or in other words, to contend 
against fate. Clinging to this creed, they are naturally indolent, 
and comparatively helpless. They sink, whenever circumstances 
permit, into habits of voluptuousness, and endeavoring to fill up life 
with as much enjoyment and as little exertion as possible. They ar6» 
alike fanatics and cowards. Without energy to contend against a 
sudden danger, their chief virtues are submission and resignation 
Thus, at the appearance of a royal tiger in India, the population will 
retreat before him, abandoning their houses and harvests; and in 
Africa the Arab trembles when he hears the roaring of the lion,- - 
resistance is too frequently not thought of; one hides himself, and 
another flies, and the monster reigns, a terror and scourge. 

Such are the people amongst whom the hero of our story, Geraro, 
the lion-slayer, has won his laurels, — a man of delicate frame, but an 
iron heart, — poor in his fortunes and simple in his habits as the Arab 
of the desert; like him living on nuts and iates; drinking from the 
same springs as the lion whose steps he trajks ; exposing himself tc 
a thousand dangers, that he may be able to brave a peril greater than 
all ; and this without noise or edat, but with an unassuming modesty 
that is the invariable accompaniment of true merit. Jules Gerard 
Is a native of Pignan, where he was born in 1817, and having em 

(463J 



454 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



braced the profession of arms, joined the 3d regiment of cavalry in 
the French army of Algeria, as a volunteer, on the 23d of June, 1842. 
At first, absorbed in military duties and studies, he gave himself 
but little to the exercises of the chase, if we may dignify with that 
term shooting excursions, after such small prey as quail, water-fowl, 
rabbits, foxes, antelopes, jackals, and wild-boara, which were in abund- 
ance. From more distant enterprises, the soldiers were deterred 
by the fear of the panther and the lion, and the yet unconquered 
Arab. Nor were they less afraid of those vast swarms of deadly 
flies which haunt the heights of Algeria, and settle with such deter 
mination and vigor upon their victims, as to overcome the bravest 
and strongest man. 

The immediate vicinity of Bone, having submitted to the French 
authority, the garrison of that place had but Kttie to do but to keep 
a watchful eye upon the more distant provinces whose attitude was 
threatening ; and Gerard had little opportunity, therefore, of parti- 
cipating in the military service and glory for which he thirsted. In 
consequence of this circumstance, he was among the first to inscribe 
his name as a volunteer to serve at Guelma, an advanced post to the 
north of the lower chain of the Atlas, where he took part in various 
expeditions, between the years 1843 and 1846, and so distinguished 
himself by his valor, that he had twice the honor of being mentioned 
in the military despatches. It is not our province to record bis ex- 
ploits as a soldier. War is a capricious mistress. Her moods are 
variable. Sometimes she gives action and glory, at others idleness 
and discontent. Inaction is the purgatory of a brave and adventurous 
man. 

Against this common enemy, each soldier arms himself as his in- 
clinations direct and his resources permit. The book-shelf of a mill* 
tary man is soon exhausted. Men look anxiously about for other 
Bources of occupation and amusement. 

One night a soldier might have been seen climbing the ramparta, 
heedless of the challenges of the sentinels, and thus exposing him- 
self to the chances of an inglorious death. It was Jules Gerard, who 
had beard the howling rf wild beasts, und had set off to encounte* 
iheu y&wa bad reached Liir Ax. old li^n from the Atlas moun 



HUNTING THE LION. ^55 

tarns is ravaging the country around Archioua, and innumerable 
victims, men as well as cattle, attested the terrible presence of the 
monster. Tne whole population is in despair, and cries aloud for an 
avenger. As an avenger Gerard offers himself. 

In the course of a few hours, accompanied by his dog^-called by 
tHo prophetic name of Lion— he has traversed the vast plain of GueL 
. *, broken by ravens and hidden streams, and clad by the untrained 
ixuriance of nature with a gorgeousness of vegetation far exceeding 
.xie richest productions of European climes. Gerard, having exa< 
mined the theatre of the enemy's depredations, and made himself 
familiar with the necessary landmarks, calmly waits the return of 
night. The hour of the evening watch has sounded. Refreshments 
circulate in the hospitable tent where the elders of the tribe are as- 
eembled, and one of the most gifted of the natives chants a long and 
monotonous ballad in honor of the renowned Arsenne. 

This Arsenne was by birth a Turk, who had acquired great cele- 
brity under the ancient beys of Constantino, as a lion-hunter, or lion- 
enarer. Sometimes aloft in a tree, sometimes buried in a cavity of 
the rocks, always sheltered in impregnable ambuscade, he killed a 
great number of these ferocious creatures without ever daring openly 
to face them. He wanted the glory of this exploit, or to speak more 
truly, he was challenged by his betrothed, and, in her sweetest tones, 
Bhe said to him one day, — ^' Arsenne, dost thou hear in the moun- 
tain the roaring of the lion V 
" I hear it," Arsenne replied. 

'' You must bring me his skin to-night; not as a new trophy of thy 
•ddress, but of thy valor. lu the open country only shalt thou attack 
him." 

Such was her command. She waited the result. To humor hia 
betrothed, the enamored Arsenne threw himself upon the track of 

^^^^^^ His bones only were discovered at the foot of a 

ravine. 

^ This little history imparted something of a solemnity to the occa. 
Si^n. Was it intended as a prudent warning against the rashne^a 
of his enterprise ? Or was it a last confession of humiliation on the 
part of the Arab, ip accepting the heroic protection of the /nfidcH 



45(5 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



\^^hateve^ the design, it missed its aim ; for the heart of Gerard, 
proof equally against intimidation and flattery, took note of nothing 
but the hospitality of his hosts. Having lighted a fresh pipe, and 
made his acknowledgements to his entertainers, he took his way to- 
ward the wood-clothed ravines, which seemed at this hour of the dusk 
to encincture the country of Archioua with a girdle of mourning. 

During the entire night he explored the district, but his search 
was vain ; not a trace of the foe he sought met his eye. On the fol- 
lowing day at the same hour he was at his post, scanning with eage 
look every ravine and hollow. 

in vain the hyaena and the jackal bounded howling beneath his feet. 
Thr panther himself had been deemed unworthy of his arras, or rather 
of t^e solitary shot it was in his power to discharge; for by accident 
ne of ehe locks of his musket had become broken. An old Roman, 
interacting the mischance as an augury, would have retraced his 
Bteps J but Gerard was only rendered by it the more daring, as placing 
himself more on an equality with the noble beast. It will now, he 
8aid, be lion matched against lion. 

At length, about eight o'clock in the evening of the 8th of July, 
a terrific howling, repeated again and again by many-voiced echo, 
was heard to issue from a neighboring ravine. At the dread sound 
of its notfs all nature seemed abashed into silence, and the cattle 
crept awaj, and him themselves. 

Gerard was impatient for the fray; his heart beat high, and his 
breast expanded. He essayed to tear away the branches that sepa- 
rated him from the enemy, who he feared might yet retreat, and de- 
cline * 9 combat. Eagerly his eye penetrated the gloom. He removed 
in a ' minutes the last screen. His watchful dog followed his 
mas* J eye, and suddenly crouched at his feet, without uttering so 
mur d as a cry of terror ; for fear had paralyzed his voice. 

It was a sublime and imposing sight, that forest king, in all his 
colossal proportions, his shaggy mane floating in the wind, his eyes 
on fire, and his mouth reeking with blood. He had planted himself 
within twenty paces of Gerard, whose pulse throbbed, not with fear, 
but, as he has related with admirable simplicity, with joy at having 



HUNTING THE LION. 457 



reached the crisis of his enterprise, and finding himseif face fco fact 
with the enemy he had been seeking. 

The lion saw his antagonist, and did not attempt flight. Man. who 
had so often fallen before his midnight depredations, seemed to him 
an eany and certain prey. He knew not how Gerard was armed. 

Profiting by the few seconds, which seemed an eternity, during 
which the monster stood glaring at him, Jules schooled himself to 
lustain his flashing looks ; then bringing his weapon to bear with a 
oautious movement, so as not to excite suspicion, he grasped it with 
the firmness of a vice. His body slightly inclined forward, resting 

on limbs as immovable as buttresses of masonry He pauses 

a moment to steady his aim. If it fail, the monster will be upon 
him before he can reload. Life and death are at an issue upon tha* 

single shot. Now he is ready. Kis finger presses the trigger 

An explosion, of sweeter melody to the ear of our hero than strains 
of softest music, shows that the trusty weapon has not failed. Stricken 
between the eyes, the huge beast shakes the earth with a convulsive 
bound, and as the volume of smoke clears away, Gerard oontemplatea 
his victim gasping out its latest breath at his feet. 

As the news spread that the lion was dead, men, women, and 
children filled the air with shouts of joy. The traces of their de 
spair and misery passed away. Torches were burned ; guns were 
fired as the signal for a feast ; wheaten puddings, light beer, and bis- 
cuits circulated ; discordant flourishes of native music, songs and 
dances, made up an Arab carnival full of spirit and originality. 

The entire population presently poured along the path that led to 
the lion's den — their torches shining like a long riband of flame — 
and soon, illumined by the reflection of a thousand torches, thp 
monster was seen stretched out motionless upon the earth. 

It was one of the fiercest lions of Atlas, exhibiting the -^ery pe« 
faction of strength and beauty. On measurement, he was found t. 
l>e seventeen feet in length, and a thick curly and knotted mau 
veiled half of his huge frame. 

One instant kept silent by astonishment, the delirious joy of the 
multitude quickly found vent in shouts that rent the air. A thou 
land voices joined in one, like the voice of a thousand grains of 



458 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



powder uniting in the report of a cannon, hailecj Gerard as thi 
Lion-Slayer. 

Such was his first exploit in a career in which he has since gained 
such di?tinguished renown. The fame of his prowess quickly spread 
abroad, and innumerable applications were made to him for succor 
from districts ravaged by lions. The natives themselves are gene- 
rally too much terrified to adopt efficient means of defending 
themselves from the depredations of these monsters, and with all 
the extravagance of enthusiasm, hailed our hero as a saviour. They 
wore astonished at the courage and self-possession which dared en- 
counter these formidable beasts single-handed. Their own opera- 
tions, whenever the extremity of their peril rouses them to resistance, 
invariably take the shape of a combined movement on a very 
extensive scale. 

In the southern district of the circle of Constantine, for example,, 
the Arabs are accustomed to meet the lion in true array of battle, 
only refraining from the use of artillery itself, because they happen 
to be destitute of that resource. 

When one of the monarch beasts has been committing his depre- 
dations, the Arabs of the tribe which has suffered most severally 
assemble at some rendezvous. The horsemen then take up their 
position at the foot of the mountain where it is ascertained the lion 
reposes during the day, whilst those on foot, uttering loud shciits, 
advance in parties of thirty or forty to his retreat. 

At the first war-cry, the lion, if it is a young one, (and a lioness 
unless she have her young one with her will do the same,) quits his 
lair, to avoid a combat ; but as the mountains in this part are but 
scantily wooded, he is generally perceived, and a few shots are 
sufficient to bring him to battle. 

An adult lion will lazily arouse himself like a sluggard awakened 
too soon ; then, stretching and rubbing his sides against the bushes 
from which he has risen, and shaking his thick matted mane, he listens 
to the cries that reach him, and angrily scratches the earth with hia 
claws. Proceeding slowly to the nearest point of rock which com 
mands the country below, he looks around on every side, and when 
he has surveyed the scene, awaits the issue. 



HUNTING THE LION. 459 



Immediately an Arab perceives him, he exclaims, in a loud voice, 
^ He is there ; " and the cry, rising distinctly above the incoherent 
shouts of the multitude, is at once understood by all. Its eflFect ia 
instantaneous. Every voice is hushed to silence. Those to whom 
the lion is visible involuntarily stop and gaze at him, and the more 
distant parti 3s quickly gather to the spot. 

A long pause ensues. The Arabs examine the priming of their 
guns, and try the edge of their yatagans, (Turkish swords,) and the 
UoD licks his paws, and rubs his face and mane, as if performing his 
toilette before the battle. Then an Arab advances from the group, 
and addresses the majestic creature in language of defiance. He says, 
" Do you not know us, since you thus continue to stand before us ? 

Get thee up and fly, for we are the men of such a tribe, and I am ,^' 

proclaiming his name. The lion, who has made his meal of more 
than one native who had apostrophized him in the same valiant terms, 
disregards the warning, and with unruffled dignity proceeds with his 
toilette. Another of his assailants bids him begone; and not show- 
ing any disposition to obey, the ears of the poor beast are presently 
stunned with such a torrent of abuse, — in the midst of which may be 
heard the contemptuous epithets of "Jew," " Christian," "Infidel," 
&c., strangely mingled, — that enraged at the annoyance, he springs 
to his feet, and lashing his sides with his tail, marches on to thp 
attack. The combat begins. Blood is shed. More than one rock 
and more than one bush, are marked by it. It is the blood of the 
bravest, who were the foremost in the encounter. The footmen, 
wounded and repulsed, retreat before the enemy to the plain whore 
the cavalry have taken their position. Warned of the approach of 
the beast, these hastily prepare for action. They gallop wildly about, 
brandish tneir weapons in the air, and add to the confusioa by loud 
and discordant shouts. But the lion watches their manoeuvres, and 
maintains his vantage-ground. He will not venture out into the un- 
sheltered plain. Their utmost provocations fail. Some one must 
approach him and fire. There is a moment perhaps of hesitation, 
when an aged man, who has some kindred to avenge, addresses his 
comrades, " Young men," he says, " if any among you is afraid of 
death, let him go back." No one moves. The Arab who should 



i60 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



retire at such a moment would be lost forever in the estimation o! 
his tribe. 

He who has spoken takes some steps in advance, and, deliberately 
taking aim, fires. Perhaps his shot goes home, and then the rest of 
the party rushing in, complete the slaughter of the beast. Perhaps 
he misses his aim, and the lion, rightly interpreting the design of the 
shot, becomes himself tlie assailant, and springs forward in a rage on 
his foes. Now the panic becomes universal ; there is an indiscrimi- 
nate flight, a few only, perhaps, reaihing ambush, and discharging 
their weapons from their hiding-places. 

If the enemy succeed in making a capture of one of his assailants 
(and this happens almost as a matter of course,) his deliverance may 
generally be effected by one of the horsemen rallying, and, at a proper 
distance firing. The lion will quit his prisoner to resent this new 
attack, and thus give his terrified prey an opportunity of escape, 
whilst he himself, exhausted in the fruitless pursuit of horses, to 
whom fear has lent wings, crouches down and awaits death upon the 
spot. This is the critical moment. The scattered riders rapidly come 
up ; an irregular fire is opened ; the lion receives, without moving, 
numerous balls discharged at the distance of eighty or a hundred 
paces ; but if any one more venturous approaches much nearer than 
this, the monster at once rouses himself, and either rider is torn from 
his saddle, or both rider and horse roll in the dust, and perish together. 
'^ I have seen many Arabs," says Gerard, *' who have been seized by 
lions, and have escaped at the commencement of an affray j but who- 
ever has the mischance to fall into the hands of one in whose body 
a dozen bullets have been lodged, is quickly torn to pieces. You may 
approach him near enough then to put the muzzle of your musket 
in his ear, and he will die before he will release his prey." 

Gerard was often questioned as to his exploits by the Arabs amongst 
whom he fell, and to whose tents his fame had been carried. '' How 
is it possible," they would say, " that alone, and in the darkness of 
night, you have been able to slay lions (unless you are something 
more than a man,) when we experience so much difl&culty, and en- 
counter so many perils, in despatching one on horseback and in open 
iay, — even after we have wounded him with eighty balls, and l<av«i 



HUNTING THE LION. 461 



ost many horses and men ?" And when he replied, that it was easy 
enough ; that he waited till they came to the encounter, and that if 
they came not to him he went to them ; they would shake their heads 
and say, " Ah ! these lions of Guelma are but children." 

The natives of Seguia challenged our hero to give them a proof of 
his prowess. He accepted it and thus related the sequel : — " It was 
the 28th of January. I was told there were several lions in the Ze- 
razcr mountains, about twenty leagues to the south of Constantine. 
The weather continuing very unfavorable till the 1st of February, 1 
contented myself with despatching some Arabs to reconnoitre the 
different stations about the mountain, and occupied my time with other 
affairs. On the first of the month, two small parties of natives placed 
themselves at my disposal. I instructed them to proceed to the woods 
at an early hour on the following morning, and light a great beacon- 
fire as soon as they discovered the track of a lion on his return towards 
the mountain. I concluded the whole neighborhood would rally 
round the fire. On the 3d, at eight o'clock in the morning, I mounted 
my horse, accompanied by two native sheiks, each taking command 
of a party, and after following the foot of the mountain towards the 
south for an hour, perceived a column of smoke ascending from a 
rock ; it was the signal of my spies. On approaching the rendezvous 
I saw an Arab standing at the base of a declivity, high up on the 
mountain ; and, following the direction of his hand, presently per- 
ceived, abundant signs of more than one lion. They say that a sin 
confessed is half expiated. So much the better, then, for I will ac- 
knowledge my vanity was gratified at beholding on one side of me 
the foot-prints of three lions, and, on the other, forty Arabs, armed 
to the teeth, the expectant witnesses of my valor and prowess. 

" My attendant followed me silently, as, dismounting, I cautiously 
pursued the trail of the beasts, endeavoring to obtain a sight of 
them. As I turned back, I marked an expression of sly mischief 
on his face, as much as to say, < There are three of them for you !' 

They are but young,' I observed, ' not more than three years o^ 
age J I should have preferred an old lion.' He shrugged big 
shoulders, and went away to relate what I had said to his compa- 
nions, whom I presently joined. ^Let two men take our horses 



462 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



and wait for us at the foot of the mountain,' I said to one of th« 
shieks, * let the others attend me with my carbines, and do both of 
ycu follow me in silence/ 

*^ When I had reached the crest of the mourtain, I found amid 
the snow a hollow like the lair of wild beasts, Ftained with blood, 
and could perceive, from the traces still left, that from this spot the 
lions had directed their course towards a valley, which seemed likely 
enouo-h to afford them cover. I directed two parties to follow very 
quietly the projecting ledge of rocks which forms, as it were, a cor- 
nice, the entire length of the Zerazer, abstaining from any attempt 
to descend the side. They were to march towards the south, raising 
a great outcry, but without firing a single shot. In case the liona 
should assume the offensive, their cries were to cease, and the senti- 
nels, who were so placed as to be witnesses of every thing, were to 
give the alarm. Satisfied, from sufficient signs, that the snow-plain 
where I had found the marks of blood was the route usually tra- 
versed by the foes I was seeking, I disarmed my two attendants of 
their carbines, and placing them in a cleft of the rock, where they 
would be able to observe every thing without any danger to them- 
selves I sat down upon a piece of stone in the open plain. The 
wind brought me the sound of a prolonged shout, and I concen- 
trated all my attention upon the proceedings of the signal-men. For 
about an hour I had been listening to the cries of the scouts, when 
a gazelle appeared upon the hill above me. She stopped a moment, 
and casting a look behind her, sprang forward, and ran towards me 
with the utmost speed. She passed on my left, within fifteen feet 
of me and a noise I heard immediately afterwards satisfied me that 
I acted wisely in not firing at her. A lion, separated from his com- 
panions came direct towards me, seated as I was close by a bush, 
at the foot of which lay the path the creature followed ; I did not 
move hoping to be able to fire upon him at a distance of ten feet, 
and intending to aim at him between the eyes. 

" For a moment he disappeared, hidden by the windings of the 
path amongst the bushes. My gun at my shoulder, my finger upon 
the tngger, I waited with impatience for his re-appearance, when an 
exclamation, uttered by the Arabs who were concealed behind ne, 



HUNTING THE LION. 46d 



made me aware that the lion had turned to the right, under the shade 
cf the wood. Getting on my feet, I saw him stationed on the very 
rock which served as a shelter to my men. A ball from my gun 
lodged in his shoulder, and, as he rose, a second followed the first. 
Smarting from his two wounds, he uttered a howl which made the 
two prisoners in the rock almost die with fright, and then bounded 
towards a precipice almost fifty feet in height. 

" He fell heavily amidst a mass of stoneaand brambles among which 
Li^ last convulsions of agony were spent. At the same moment one 
of my exploring parties appeared on the heights from which the lion 
hud descended. They had heard my firing. I had the greatest diffi- 
culty in the world to prevent their going down to the foot of the rock 
which my prey had overleaped. Fearful lest he should not be yet 
quite dead, I persisted in going alone. 

" Scarcely had I reloaded my carbine, when the videttes began 
shouting with all their might. Two lions were visible. There was 
no time to looe. Satisfied that I should find my first victim dead 
I followed the natives, who, no longer doubting my intrepidity, had 
taken the advance, leaping from rock to rock like the chamois The 
lions, however, had disappeared, and were invisible for the rest of 
that day. 

" On the 4th, at mid-day, T took up the same position as before 
and about three hours afterwards a lioness approached by the same 
path as the lion I had slain. I planted myself on the top of the 
rock, and sat down till she came within range of my gun. Hitherto 
she had not seen me, but as soon as I rose she stopped, looked 
about her with an air of disquietude, and crouching down in the 
same >vay as a cat does, showed me her magnificent teeth. What 
weapons they were ! She was about thirty feet distant. I levelled 
my gun. As I fired, she darted up like a serpent, turning her head 
from the side where she had been struck ; then, collecting all her 
remaining strength, she bounded forward about ten feet, and fell, 
receiving a second shot in the back of the neck. The Arabs, attracted 
by the double discharge, came to me one by one to make me the 
< amende honorable,' and kiss the hand that had given them a lessoH 
they said they should never forget.'' 



4(54 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



The lion was sent as a trophy to Constantine. The following day 
ihey found the one previously slain He lay dead at the foot of the 
*ock where he had fallen. 

The following episode can be best related in the adventurer's 
Dwn words : " On the night of the 2d of January," he says, " I mor- 
tally wounded a lion with three slugs in the shoulder, whose dismal 
howlings I had followed in the neighborhood of the camp of Mezez- 
Amar. After making a preliminary examination, I returned to the 
r^amp, and on the following day, at break of dawn, followed by a 
cavalry-man and the Sheik Mustapha, returned upon the track of 
the beast. After following the trail of his blood for the course of 
half an hour, we discovered him, still living, in the midst of a 
thicket, on the right bank of the river Bon Hemdem, a quarter of a 
league to the west of Mezez-Amar. He proclaimed his presence to 
as by bis groans. As the wood in which he had taken refuge was 
almost impenetrable, I placed Rostain (the cavalry-man) and seven 
or eight Arabs, who had joined our party, at the outskirts of the wood 
and proceeded myself to descend the ravine, directing them when 
they saw me at the bottom, about fifty feet distant from them, to throw 
stones. The lion I thought, mortally wounded would come down 
to me as soon as he was disturbed by the noise of the stones above. 
But for some time he did not stir, though the stones literally rained 
down upon his sides. 

" I made a sign, therefore, to Rostain to cease throwing, and as 
soon as he did so, the lion, not hearing the noise any longer, rose, 
and slowly came out, as if to listen. By a gesture of my hand I 
prevented Rostain from attacking him, when the Shiek Mustapha'a 
dogs, finding themselves face to face with the beast, suddenly took 
flight, bounding over the brushwood by Rostain and the Arabs. 
These immediately turned tail; and the lion seeing Rostain neartr 
to him than the rest of the party, attacked him ; now leaping for 
ward, and now rolling for some feet, but quickly recovering hira- 
Bclf, and starting off again with a howl in pursuit, wnen he received 
a ball, which would have saved my man, but for the mishap of 4 
false step and a fall. The lion seized him at the instant he was re- 
lovering himself, and 1 oiled over and over, holding the unfortunate 



HUNTING THE LION. 465 



horseman in his teeth, whilst he savagely tore his sides wi^h his claws. 
When he had got over a few feet in this way, the animal abandoned 
bis victim, and tried with difficulty to make his way towards the foot 
of the ravine. As soon is I saw Rostain fall, feeling that the lion 
would inevitably seize him, 1 had hastened, as well as the nature of 
the ground and the brambles that covered it would permit, to fly to 
his assistance, but I arrived too late. The lion had disappeared, and 
I could do nothing but attend to the sev<^re wounds of my poor 
comrade. 

*' The next day I went back to the wood, accompanied by a party 
of thirty Arabs. We found the trail of the lion, and followed the 
marks of his blood. He had betaken himself to a thicket forming 
almost an islet, and separated by the river Bon Hemdem from the 
plain which the Arabs call Elbaz. In spite of our shouts, and the 
stones we threw plentifully, he did not stir. One of the natives 
caught a glimpse of him as he lay counched up in the midst of an 
enormous mastic-tree. He fired, but missed his aim. The lion 
sprang at him, but his strength was spent, and the Arab escaped. 
Another of the party, finding himself face to face with the animal, 
levelled his gun; the lion sat down and waited; the Arab, in a mo- 
ment of panic, turned his head aside to see that his companions had 
not left him ; the lion saw his opportunity, and made a spring ; with 
one claw of his heavy paw he laid open the cheek of his victim, tore 
the butt-end of his musket from the barrel and from his grasp, and 
seizing him by the loins, hurled him against a tree some ten feet dis- 
tant. Encountering a third native armed with a musket and bayo- 
net, he struck him down with a blow of his tail, and then presented 
himself on the bank of the river In face of the little ford occupied by 
the rest of the men. These took to flight, and the lion escaped without 
further molestation. I was starting off" in pursuit of him, when the 
Sheik Mustapha came to tell me that the litter for carrying the wounded 
Rostain had arrived from Mezez-Amar. I thought it my duty to at- 
tend him to the camp, and thence to Guelma, whore I saw him re- 
ceived into the hospital. On the morrow I returned to the spot, and 
for six days caused the wood to be watched, to assure myself that the 
li'>n did not come 5ut either to eat or drink, and at the end of that 

30 



iG6 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



time the vultures began to gather, a sufficient sign that my prey hn^ 
died in some thicket/' 

Since the death of the black lion of Archioua, his consort having 
retreated from the neighborhood, it was for a time free from depre- 
dations. But in the course of some months this lioness returned, 
accompanied by a yellow lion and two young ones of about eighteen 
months old. Cattle now began to disappear again every day and oo 
casionally horses, killed by the dam to feed her offspring. Aftef 
many complaints on the part of the peasants, Glerard established hia 
quarters in the vicinity, and on the 3rd of December, 1846, intelli- 
gence was brought him that the lion had just wounded a man and 
killed a horse. He at once accompanied the messenger to the spot 
where the animal had been strangled On the borders of a wood near, 
be found a pool of blood, and from that place, through a thicket of 
mastic of wild olive-trees, traced the course along which the lioness 
aad dragged the horse to the foot of a ravine, a distance of six hun- 
dred feet. The poor beast was lying on the ground still whole, and 
with no other wounds than the bites of two huge teeth in his thioa. 
Gerard crept behind a tree about four feet from the carcass and waited 
the result. 

The entire night passed without the appearance of anything. But 
about six o'clock in the evening of the next day the approach of the 
lioness was announced by the affrighted cries of birds, and the flight 
of two raccoons who were roaming near the horse. The ravine being 
very narrow, and every where well wooded, he could not perceive the 
lioness until she had come up to her prey. Her two young followed 
her at a short distance. One of them advancing towards the horse, 
the dam turned upon it, and frightening it away, drove it back to the 
thicket. " She had distinguished me/' says Gerard, " in my hiding- 
place. Stealthily she made a circuit around me, now hiding herself 
from my sight, now showing her h^ad above a bramble, as she looked 
io see that I was still there. Suddenly she seemed to have entirely 
disappeared. 

<< I almost believed she bad done so, when happening to cast my 
eyes to my right, I saw her exten ded like a serpent, her head resting 
upon her two paws, her eyes fixed upon mine, her tail swaying slowlv 



HUNTING THE LION. 



467 



like a pendulum, in the air. I felt that I had not a moment to spare. 
I took mj aim at her forehead ; she bounded five feet from the ground, 
and fell, uttering a horrid howl. She was dead. The aim had been 
true, and the shot pierced her brain The young lions having fled 
at the sound of the musket, I waited till four o'clock in the morning 
without their re-appearing. At length the extreme cold compelled 
me to return, and when I came afterwards to take possession of my 
lioness, I was accompanied by more than two hundred Arabs, who 
manifested the highest joy at my success; for amongst all I had 
killed to this time, not one had committed so many ravages in so short 
a time." 

Gerard continues to distinguish himself in adventures similar to 
those we have related. His services are in general request, and he 
is known amongst all the natives of Algeria by the name conferred 
en him by acclamation, by the people of Archioua, — The Lion-Slayer 








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